Demon Wolf Pet
by ShadowWolf0101
Summary: She, who is part of an elite clan with a big secret, join Pet on her journey to become an Admiral as she fights for her family. Both the family that disowns her and the family that adopts her. She eventually goes on to become the fourth Admiral, but can she still side with the Navy even after the death of her little brother Ace? Will her secret be revealed? Many appearances...
1. Prologue: The Legend

**Author's Note: **So far the characters listed will definitely be in my story with many more so it's not limited but if you would like specific characters pm me and I'll see what I can do. Also I should give credit where it is due, so the idea of the Uchiha came from Naruto but I tweaked it a bit like their background and the whole elite thing among other stuff, so the credit for them should go to Kishi but this is not a crossover. Keep in mind I have not published any of my work in a long time and I am happy to say that I have gotten better which gives me the confidence to publish this. We'll have to see how often chapters will be published but I'm an upperclassmen in high school with advanced classes so I will try to write when I have time. Now that I've gotten all that out of the way :)

Honestly, this prologue is just to give background so I don't have to find clever ways of telling you all her heritage and why everything that happens during her childhood is happening, so bear with me. I'm not that happy with this prologue but it does its job, I **promise** the story gets better, I just need to set up the background or it'll be extremely confusing and then the story really will be shit then. So read on and I guarantee an interesting story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything already owned by Oda from One Piece, just my story. Also credit to Kishi because the idea and name of Uchiha come from Naruto.

Also the _italics_ will be like a journal, pretend you're reading a diary entry, k?

Enjoy.

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**Prologue**

_I have something to say and you need to know all of this to carry on, child. What I am about to tell you is history through my eyes, of course it is the condensed version, and if you search the pile of books and journals deep enough you'll find the longer versions. I have to get this out, though, dearies. Otherwise known shall know my side and I fear that none will ever care to wonder about my side._

_Here we go, before the Void Century there existed an elite clan of people, the Uchiha clan. All members of this clan expressed raven colored hair and the only thing making them unique was their different eyes. Their eyes varied in shapes and colors, by shapes think of snake and cat's slit eyes and horse's wide rectangular eyes or bug eyes with colors to match, but not always did they have a specific animal eye they could have regular human eyes. They just happened to be a bright pink or deep blue, even red, same goes for animal eyes, they did not follow a specific color scheme._

_Now, this clan had many specific qualities which made them the elite, first of all, they had people excelling in every aspect of life, as in professions, in every profession there was an Uchiha or a group of Uchiha at the top. Very few could penetrate their circles._

_In the area of reproducing, when an Uchiha procreates with one who is not of Uchiha blood then, automatically, their child will no longer be considered Uchiha and will take after the one who is not an Uchiha. The child will inherit none of the qualities which make the Uchiha the top dogs. Keep in mind that the Uchiha weren't all stuck up and arrogant about their abilities and most just wanted to live and be happy, be normal._

_Oh, how they could never be normal, because they made the best warriors and many Kingdoms, throughout the land, called on the Uchiha to organize and lead their armies and in some cases asked to borrow their warriors. The warriors had varying skills from sword, to spear, nunchuks even, anything one could possibly use as a weapon the Uchiha had a specialty for it._

_I should probably introduce myself now, I'm being so rude. Please don't tattle on me, I'm already in enough trouble. My name is Uchiha Yuki. I am called the White Dragon Empress._

_I only write this after all events have taken place and I can feel that the time for me to go is coming. My people will not mourn me and they will be angry, because there is no telling when the next chosen one will appear and I hope that she can succeed where I have failed them. Already my failure will follow her and she will never have had the choice to born or the help that I had in my life. She will be alone. The poor child, bless her heart._

_Oh, dear, what an old fool I am. I keep losing track, so I ask, would you like to know my story? Then read on dear children._

_It all started the day I was born. I am told that it was a very snowy day and, therefore, my tired mother named me Yuki. An uproar occurred in my household where my mother had birthed me with the help of her Uchiha midwife. They were appalled at the color of my light fuzz, not the typical black of an Uchiha pureblood, but a brown._

_For those of you who do not know of our ways, the brown haired girl who is irrefutably pureblood Uchiha always signals an imminent threat. A threat that that little brown haired baby will face when of age, but there's no telling when of age, because there is no set number, could be sixteen to one hundred._

_My mother and father were happy, yet solemn at my birth because the chosen one had not been birthed for hundreds of years and for one to suddenly pop out, so to speak, was very unsettling. They knew they had to prepare for the threat and my upbringing, without the other kingdoms or villages knowing, of course. Only the Uchiha know of the brown sheep._

_I say brown sheep, because when I was growing up and curiously asked why I received different attention than other children, my mother told me, "Think of it this way Yuki, in a world full of white sheep the Uchiha are the black sheep but even among the black sheep there is always one very different from the rest, the brown sheep. Always a girl for some reason lost long ago." As a child, this description sufficed very well. The brown sheep is the elite of the elite, the black sheep of black sheep, the brown sheep, so to speak._

_I find myself chuckling at this description even today. Sheep have it so easy that only the coloring marks them as unique. I had many qualities to be built upon as any Uchiha. _

_The leaders of our clan molded me into a great and lethal warrior, an excellent scholar, the best doctor in all areas of medicine, and they made sure I developed a strong desire to protect my people and a love for the clan as well. Other than all these traits, they could never explain to me what it was that made me truly different from the rest. I was tired of just an explanation of, "Sorry darling, but the legend has long since been forgotten about any special capabilities of yours. All we really know is that a pureblood brown haired girl will be born in times when most necessary and she will possess the greatest and most progressive qualities of an Uchiha, other than that there aren't many specifications."_

_Growing up I settled for this little clarification and decided that it shouldn't matter and that I should just live. Soon enough, however, when I was well into my twenties I "came of age" and I started to see why I might be needed. Apparently there was a feud of some sort between the kingdoms, almost all of them participated and we, Uchiha, were dragged right into the middle of their war._

_Later, everyone agreed and suddenly I became leader of the Uchiha. It was a big responsibility on my shoulders, I was only in my twenties at the time. I traveled by ship to many different kingdoms preparing for war, not just war though, it was __**the war.**__ I took my job seriously and completed my tasks diligently. I decided, along with the help of my advisers, that the Uchiha would side with the Great Kingdom who was against those Kingdoms who called themselves Defenders of Justice. Their sense of justice was little off and we found them to be a little twisted._

_During this time, much to my current disgust, we built weapons. The weapons which make adults shudder and babies cry, weapons of mass destruction. The two most well-known weapons we named Uranus and Pluton. The third weapon, which many do not know about, is a mermaid dubbed Poseidon. She was such a sweet mermaid when I met her, I traveled all the way down to Fishman Island to negotiate with them. They simply wanted no part of the war, lucky them. I grew to love the species, they were very interesting me. Poseidon was such a kindhearted mermaid and she had a lot on her plate. She didn't want to strain relations with human any further, and so, they didn't join but we did promise to protect them if the need arose._

_Poseidon and I did talk about the issue of their location. She told me how they wanted to move above water to have a bigger part and presence in the world. I remember frowning and calculating what it would take to move all of them but she told me how they already had a mode of transportation they just needed someone to guide them. I told her I would think on it and get back to her, maybe send her someone._

_Later on in the months I did, I sent her a good and trustworthy man whom we all called Joy Boy. As his name suggests he was joyful and he put a lot of heart into his work, I knew he was the man for the job. He was sent and I had to prepare for war with the Great Kingdom against the united twenty kingdoms who originally were planning on a surprise attack, but we got word of their plans and were able to make the preparations. _

_Of course, I just had to meet the love of my life amidst the planning and traveling. He became my bestest friend and trusted confidant. He was an Uchiha named Daisuke. He was everything I could ever hope for in a man and he was the only one who treated me like a person and not the chosen one. That nonsense was getting old quick. He sort of started following me around when I went to the different kingdoms. Daisuke and I were married within the year of actually starting to really talk to one another, not about war but the important stuff, like what our favorite colors were. He was older than me by a few years and held the status of another leader in our clan, technically my adviser. Because of this, we could spend a lot of time together talking and he would help me with decision making and everything. _

_He'd calm me when the days were rough and I had little temper tantrums of fury. Mind you, in my youth, I had a lot of spunk! Haha! He'd mourn the loss of comrades by my side and he was there as any lover should be, he was just there for me, always. As any English teacher will tell you, however, in every story there is that climax._

_More tense months passed and we finally went to war. I lost too many fellow clanmates, including my beloved Daisuke who fought very bravely beside me, but one minute I cut down another enemy and the next I see Daisuke on his knees having been impaled by an enemy warrior. I still remember through all the fuzz how he gave me a big smile even if he did have a slight trickle of blood going down his chin and in that moment I grew hateful, for the first time, I felt pure hatred and it blinded me and I fought more ferociously than ever before. To see the man I love dying, and to come to the sudden realization, in that moment, that I didn't want another, I couldn't bear it. All reason had left me, my only goal was to slaughter._

_Even now, I feel the rage stirring inside me but underlying it all, gems, is the unbearable sadness that Daisuke will never resurface to calm the storm inside me. I have to do it myself now, as I have done, since that fateful day._

_That day, only after it was too late, did I realize the biggest mistake I ever made in my life and it was that the weapons of Pluton and Uranus had fallen into the hands of the united twenty and they slaughtered my people. Too much damage had been done by the time I called the retreat. Our battleground was but a small flat island that could fit all our forces, this battle proved to be the last as we had fought on many other islands, some including our weapons. I stayed behind still fighting those who wished and when I stood in the massive clearing filled with dead bodies on both sides and I saw our massive body count. I knew we had lost and all my hope had escaped me._

_That was when a miraculous thing happened, I awakened my "special capability." I transformed into a mighty white dragon with pale eyes and I towered high with the ability to look out and see the enemy and their numbers and see my troops running to our ships which were being destroyed by the people operating Pluton and Uranus. With a great roar I took off beating my wings and alighting from the ground, as if on instinct I just knew what to do. During my flight my sole job was to protect what was leftover of my forces, I covered them from the air easily breathing blue fire on those advancing. They tried to take me out but my scales were like layers of armor and nothing they had could penetrate it._

_Not even the attacks of our weapons. With that notion in mind, I easily swept in on the operators of these weapons and annihilated them. I preserved the weapons and having seen their destruction I knew what should become of them. I didn't even like using them when they were on our side. It was Uchiha who helped build them; we were the masterminds on a lot of things having to do with the war. Pluton, for instance, was built at Water Seven with the top shipwrights including Uchiha who lived there._

_So much destruction followed our war path and many innocents were killed but it was not our side that did the merciless killings, I made sure of that. Any who dared defy me was sentenced to public execution and they were made an example of. I feel no remorse about what I did to enforce my will._

_ It was that final battle where everything truly ended. My people escaped, what was left of them. Those in my force which came from other kingdoms returned to await what would happen next. Even if we lived to fight another day, we no longer had the resources to. You know what that means right? We lost the biggest war of all time._

_I knew I had to act fast. So I made sure Pluton was well hidden as well as Uranus, the locations are probably somewhere in this stack of junk. I got the blueprints for Pluton and gave it to a trusted shipwright, whose instructions were to pass it on for the generations to come and to keep it a secret, in case Pluton fell into enemy hands another could be built to combat it. All over the globe I began collecting those with the Uchiha crest. Those who wanted to stay simply got rid of it and knew to keep silent about their surname and many changed it. Those who still had some Uchiha pride and didn't want to give up their name flocked to me for protection, because we knew they would come for us all because of what they had seen me do._

_Uranus, I made sure to keep well hidden. It was in these years that the Uchiha numbers dwindled excruciatingly low because of the hunt for all our heads. I had gained the title, the White Dragon Empress, by that time._

_Joy Boy got in touch with me after the war and told me that he could not fulfill his promise to Poseidon because of the chaos of the world now and how he didn't want them coming up in this environment. I understood perfectly and told him he made the right choice since the Fishmen would be heavily discriminated against and that we could not be there anymore to make sure they had a safe arrival on Noah or a pleasant stay. We wouldn't be able to find them a good island to make their own._

_I began working on a project after the kingdoms began erasing all history of the war ever occurring. I, along with many other Uchiha, only Uchiha, we all began jotting down the history of what happened and I collected the most important of the books of that time which illustrated this century of strife. We made these great tablets which I combined all the skills of the Uchiha to make them indestructible even to the great weapons. We etched onto them a secret language we devised and made sure to pass on in the form of books, on how to decipher them and also where they would be located, to our trusted allies and the race whose intellect is probably second to us, the Oharans._

_I made sure none of the authors left our surname on their books, I was slowly erasing the Uchiha name from existence along with the help of the World Government and within years people did start to forget us. We became legend. I became legend. I even made sure to swear all my friends to secrecy, all our allies too. I worked with someone whom the kids are now calling D. Special people were given a middle D in their name, those who inherited his will. My future descendants also inherited it._

_A bit on D, well he was very funny and a really great person whom I truly respected. He could light up any person and he did it boisterously as well. Just being by him made me feel happy despite all the stress of my life and he was a good friend, he only ever wanted freedom to explore and he had a way of drawing you in with him. Being with him made me want to go an adventure and make a better statement in this world. He helped me a lot after the loss in the war and he assured me as he left our island that he would make sure that our will carried on through the ages to someday be fulfilled. I cried after he left, he left me with something so precious, jewels, he allowed me take the middle letter D in my name._

_After the Poneglyphs were completed, in a grand puzzle I, myself, placed them where they are at now and will forever stay. When I finished up with all that and finally could turn my full attention back to my people, because I was so busy worrying about the rest of the world, I found out that they hated me. No matter, though, I had a child to look after, Daisuke's first son who I named Isamu. I led my small group of people to an island now called Baterilla in the South Blue. We founded a town far from the others and they do not even know of our existence because you cannot see it from the sea. We all made our little town and prospered all on our own, but quietly._

_The world did forget about us and those who had known us only told of stories to their children about a great race of people called the Uchiha. I wonder if D contributed to those stories. It makes my heart lighten at the thought, I sure hope he did. Those stories are the only remembrances, children's tales. I know that someday one of my descendants will inherit my will and my power and go on to be the world's next White Dragon Empress. For now, I will pass on my knowledge and I hold the documents, containing everything on the Void Century, about all that took place and everything, hidden in my house._

_Only my bloodline will be permitted to gaze on such precious documents. My son already knows everything and has promised he will make sure to pass it on to his kids. He's a good boy. I must go now, for I feel the tiredness of a hundred years of my life tugging at my weary bones and Daisuke and all my long dead friends call to me. I think I hear some screaming at me, as well. Those silly gooses. Ah, finally I can see my beloved husband again._

_Goodnight Darlings._

* * *

When Yuki died later that night after slipping away peacefully in her bed, the clock began ticking, the clock which marks the time for the next Empress to be born. Her beloved son, Isamu, was the one to find her. He did not mourn her; he had no particular care, for he felt cheated. He, no _**they**,_ they all blamed her for their current situation. Even in a peaceful little town with forests surrounding them and a nice little river flowing close by for water, they still were upset about it all.

They did, however, give her a respectful burial, fit for a king, with her placed serenely on a bed of twigs and they set fire to it. They all stood vigil; those who were older could find it in their hearts to be thankful because they knew of her sacrifice but no matter how much they tried to explain it, their children just could never see reason and she literally had taken the whole world and hidden them from it, or was it the other way around? Indeed, she hid one or the other, but they didn't think about her reasons for why.

There was this hatred and tension that continued being passed down through generations of Uchiha. Every generation hoping the Empress would never show herself, never come into the world again. Some had hope of being able to go out into the world because, hey, it's not like they kept record of what happened during the Void Century. Deep down their instincts told them otherwise, that even if everyone else had forgotten them, the new World Government would remember and it was only a matter of time before they were discovered and hunted once again.

Generations of Uchiha were completely cut off from the world and did not seek to jump back in. A tiredness and sourness followed the people. The town was mostly quiet with the few oddballs here and there and the children retained their innocence and laughter until the adults officially corrupted them with their inheritance of anger.

T'was a silent rage that made their blood constantly boil and skin prickle as they carried on with their "peaceful" life.

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**Author's End Note:** So let me know what you think and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Hope you enjoyed. Until next time ;)


	2. The Legend is Born

**Author's Note: **Hey peoples, so it looks like I'm going to be updating around this day. If you're lucky I might update earlier because I try to write whenever I can. This is more back story and then there should be some characters you know soon. I haven't decided on everyone I will include but we'll see as we go.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that Oda already owns or Kishi with the Uchiha idea.

_Enjoy._

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Chapter 1

Snow falls on the silent little village wherein a mother has just had her first daughter. Her sons and husband await her outside the warm bedroom. The sons look to their father as he paces with sweat glistening on his forehead. The children aren't old enough to understand their parents' fear, their _father's _fear.

A soft baby's cry echoes throughout the house. The father's fear come true and his anxiety builds. To simply be put, if one of his sons were to take their father's pulse they would feel an extremely irregular fast beating heart.

The only thing that can calm the father now is if he makes certain that his daughter has raven hair like everyone else in the house and in the whole town, well excluding the aged people who have grey to white hair.

Unfortunately, when his wife's midwife emerges with a solemn expression, deep down he knows his daughter is chosen. The dreaded brown haired Uchiha girl. The young midwife explains, "Your wife is resting now, Chief. You may visit her if you would like, but please be quiet as she's very tired."

In response, he nods and enters the bedroom and he hears faint suckling which he presumes is his daughter feeding. In the bed he sees his wife, he can barely make out her deep breaths of tiredness. He understands why, she's past the prime age for birthing children. She's in her early forties now, but they both wanted to have just one more child, how stupid they were. Now they're stuck with this problem.

They never thought that they would be unlucky enough to have the one Uchiha that everyone in town anticipates. He now sees said babe's outline in the blankets atop his wife's chest.

His wife looks to him with a faint smile, a tired one. She gently pats the spot beside her signaling for her husband to join her on the bed. He complies and crawls on the bed. He aligns with his wife's body with his head on the pillow next to hers.

He watches for a while just thinking when his wife starts, "What's wrong Masahiro?" Masahiro turns his gaze to his wife's face, she has light pink eyes. She told him that when she was born a stray cherry blossom flower landed on her head when her parents took her out as a newborn and they named her Sakura.

Masahiro sighs and reaches over gently placing his hand over his newborn's head and just giving a slight rub before responding, "Is it her?" He hears Sakura sigh as well, "Yes your daughter's hair is brown."

He nods but he still doesn't quite accept it, he's tense. The couple simply lie there in silence, they don't fully grasp how much their daughter will change them... they don't understand how much they will hurt her.

Suddenly there's a knock on the door, Masahiro's strong voice rings out, "Enter." Their sons enter and they both wear the faces of curious children who probably want to see their new baby sister. The oldest, Katashi, has light green eyes with his pupils in the shape of diamonds and the younger, Hitoshi, has burgundy irises with rectangular pupils.

Katashi and Hitoshi climb up on the bed trying to get a good look at their newborn sister, Masahiro wraps an arm around his two boys and drags them onto the space he made between him and his wife. Sakura smiles and starts sitting up with her baby sliding down her chest and she supports her with an arm.

Sakura officially rests against the headboard and her boys faces are trying to see past the blanket. Their mother smiles brightly at her very curious sons and she removes the blanket to show their sister's face. Light begins shining within their eyes.

"Ka-san why are her eyes only brown? Why is her hair brown? Shouldn't it be black like all ours?"

Sakura continues smiling warmly, "She's special, Hitoshi, so she has brown hair. Her eyes will change color when she's older." Hitoshi and Katashi nod simultaneously.

Masahiro drapes his long legs over the side of the bed and with a with a sigh he rises and goes out. Sakura frowns, but only for a moment, not long enough for her children to detect something wrong. She has yet to discover how the newborn will affect their father, when Katashi and Hitoshi were born he was ecstatic but now he seems... distant.

Of course, Sakura is the descendant of Yuki. Masahiro actually didn't like her very much growing up, but all the descendants were treated a little differently and almost scornfully, the scorn was always hidden though, embedded in people's words. They knew that the descendants were capable of bringing the harbinger of doom.

* * *

When Masahiro walked out of his house he was not surprised to find a crowd of raven haired people outside his home. _That damn Midwife went and blabbed to everyone._ With his deep purple eyes and the usual circle pupil, he looks to each face from town, the people gathered all wear winter coats because... well it's winter. It is a mixture of mothers and fathers to teenagers but only the aged Uchiha remain indoors, they don't care about the future, their time is almost up anyways. Not enough time for any real damage to be done to them.

A great tumult of voices enter his ears as they all begin speaking at once with some voices ringing above others. "Is it true?" "Oi! Chief, answer me!" "It's not true right?" "Please tell us it's not true!" Masahiro clears his throat, rather loudly, so that everyone gathered is silenced, and begins, "It is true! My daughter has brown hair!" The silence is filled with mixed emotions, the tension is in the air and each person wears somewhat similar expressions of horror, disdain, and frustration. None want the child to exist, not in their generation.

Most doubt that the child will be able to live up to their expectations especially after the legendary warrior Yuki failed the Uchiha. They didn't want to give her the chance to prove herself, because when you try, you open yourself up to fail, but when you don't try you can't actually fail, now can you? They experience the feeling of dread and horror because her birth signals a great distress in the world and they will likely all be affected. Masahiro understands their feelings but he has his own to add, he has some hope for his daughter but as he has inherited the anger passed down, he also feels unbearably angry and even hateful towards her, his own daughter, as well.

Finally, after he thinks the silence has lasted long enough, where everyone had time to think everything through, he speaks up, "You all know the reason the chosen one comes up in various generations. She will be the necessary key to our survival, and if she cannot live up to our expectations then well, we don't need her." Shock colors the faces of his people, he continues, "Why don't we need her, you might ask. Well who are we?" Silence ensues as everyone answers the question internally, "We are the Uchiha! An elite clan of people unmatched by the world outside. They fear us and for good reason too. Even if we have not partaken in the world outside for a long time, we still have not lost our edge and we can still fight for our survival like our ancestors before us and look at how many we are now!" Masahiro's face shows his resolve and how he must give courage to those who are frightened of the road ahead. A light lip smile forms on his face as he sees the crowd's faces, their faces show their hardening resolve as well.

Masahiro looks each person in the eye from his porch and says, "Now all of you go home, and enjoy your families. We have nothing to worry about for now." They all nod and turn to leave, some remain as if lost in thought before they leave as well. Masahiro knows this is not over, that the words he has spoken this day will, as time goes, fade and their power as well. Again one more feeling overtakes him, pity, pity on the fresh baby in his wife's arms.

* * *

Masahiro was in his living room on the couch thinking deeply with his hands clasped under his chin and elbows on his thighs propping his head up. He remembers when he finally started liking Sakura, a very beautiful and quiet girl. She stills holds as such but now she's a woman. Masahiro always viewed Sakura as a weakling and still does, she cannot stand up to people, which is why her parents sought to marry her off. Even if the descendant usually is the one to take on the role of chief, but that's usually when the next descendant is a son. Only strong woman descendants get to carry the title of chief, they have to earn it. Sakura did not fit either category so she could not carry on as the chief and win that title.

Masahiro and she started spending time together when they were both in their late teens. They fell in love... somewhat. Not heated passion but more of a 'You a'ight.' Her parents died before Katashi was born and so Masahiro and her made the house theirs. Sakura's father, the previous chief, made sure it was known that Masahiro would be the next chief. Sakura only smiled sweetly and kept her mouth shut as any proper weak woman should do.

Back to reality, Masahiro notes the light footsteps coming from the hallway. He doesn't move to see who it is because he already knows. Sakura comes and sits on the space next to him and begins, "I've decided on a name, if you agree, but I think it fits."She pauses and waits for him to say something, and with a great intake of breath he looks her straight in the eye, his purple eyes versus her light pink. His voice fills the silence, "Do as you like, she's your daughter." Sakura's eyebrows rise in disbelief and shock at his words. She understands what her husband means, but that's a little too far.

A slight anger fills her but she presses it down and says lightly, "Okay, then her name is Serina. Uchiha D. Serina." Sakura rises without another word and goes back to her daughter being watched over by her sons.

Sakura enters her bedroom and goes to lay down by her baby and her boys and falls asleep, Katashi and Hitoshi fall asleep in their parent's bed as well. Masahiro ends up sleeping on the couch because there's no room for him and partly because he doesn't want to sleep there, next to a bad omen.

* * *

~Time Skip~

Serina, now age two, successfully has been walking and talking since she was one and a half years old. When she walks about the town she finds that the emotion that most fills her is as though she's empty, devoid of any emotion. She doesn't feel anything towards anyone, and how could she? All the townspeople never speak with her and remain silent until she passes by. Her brothers ignore her after they discovered who or what she is. Their father made sure to sit them down and explain to them in his most twisted way and the next they looked at her, their eyes were skeptical and hard. Only her mother is the godsend person in her life telling her stories about her heritage and everything. Serina always loved her mother but she never truly respected her.

Sakura could only tell her daughter that the reason people treat her the way they do is because "they're afraid of you, of who you will be." This appeared illogical at the time, why not take it upon themselves to make sure that she grow into what they want? Serina could just never understand the word fear. She knows the definition and understands it's a feeling people have but she doesn't think she's ever felt it truly.

Now her father, the great chief, treats her tersely. Masahiro never has time to spend talking with her, just educating her in a formal way. He began training her when she was fully capable of walking and talking. First it was verbal lessons on combat, the type of combat skills that has been passed down through the Uchiha for generations. Then he started instructed her in wielding the various forms of weaponry. Masahiro grew excited at how it only took his daughter the first try to obtain all the information given and how she had perfect form when dealing with any type of weaponry.

He told her, "Maybe if you become a Marine then the government will take us back! Then we could participate in the world." Serina only cocked her head at him, Marine? Masahiro falters, the Uchiha occasionally go out in small numbers to see how the world outside is doing. They learned of the pirates and Marines and the World Government. They also heard about the famous pirates and Gold Roger and how he was the Pirate King but died then started the Great Age of Pirates, but that hasn't occurred yet. Gold Roger is still out and about, doing as Pirate King's do.

Serina understands her father's hope already but she doesn't see the logic behind becoming a Marine. In her opinion, when they get the paper from the News Coos who pass by occasionally, she feels that a lot of information is missing or altered.

Serina only nodded in agreement with her father though she thought, _it would be a futile attempt_. Masahiro could not sense the depth of her knowledge. People who did speak with her not only feared her because of her future but of the present, like if they spoke too long with her she would dissect their very soul and learn everything about them. The way her serious face with calculating eyes stare, and you can almost feel the intelligence wafting from her, can make anyone run the other way.

Serina only ever showed her smile to her mother and the wonder which would fill her eyes in those private moments would be priceless. Sakura knew how precious those moments were but they were few and far between after Serina gleaned everything she could from her mother. Her mother just didn't have any more use to her.

Much to Masahiro's dismay, Serina easily surpassed him even when she was so young and there was just nothing more he could teach her. She already knew how to survive on her own, different forms and styles of weaponry but she excelled at hand to hand combat and using Katana, she also took all the knowledge she could from the world outside and easily caught up in all the goings on in the world. Sakura could only think of one last thing that her daughter would need to know, the books with all the information of the Void Century and the poneglyphs and how to read them.

Twas a day when Serina was only sitting on the porch outside the house on an upper step just watching the quiet town life. Few people stopped to chat but they went on gathering things to tend to their animals and crop. Every time someone would notice her sitting on the step they would, if they were, stop talking and motion with a nod in her direction to signal that their conversation was being 'monitored.'

A look of indifference colors Serina's face, she just doesn't care anymore. People-watching was her specialty. The intelligence in her gaze always made people falter during any type of interaction. Serina could only wonder if her crime was just being able to retain information better than everyone else.

She heard the door behind her open and a light footstep told her it was her mother. Sakura saw her daughter in her usual spot watching the town as always. Sakura went to stand by her daughter, whom remained sitting, and Sakura sat down next to her. Serina initiated conversation with an impassive voice, "Do you need something, ka-san?" Serina turned to her mother awaiting her answer.

Sakura only responded, "I want to show you something, come with me." Sakura stood promptly and turned to go back inside, and by the feeling of someone near her she knew that her daughter was close behind. Serina had an uncanny ability to never make any noise while walking but you always could sense her looking at you. Sakura continued down the hallway and stopped at the door to their basement, she turned to Serina, their eyes met for a second before she turned back and brought out the key to the constantly locked door. She opened it and started the descent down the wooden steps that have lasted since the house was first built. Serina still never made any noise going down the rickety steps and because of this chills were sent down where Sakura's spine would be if she had one.

Serina's dull brown eyes took in every inch of their surroundings and as they entered the basement. She found that there were rows and rows of file cabinets and boxes with a filled bookshelf at the back. Finally on the ground of the basement she faces the file cabinets. A bare wall is to her left and the boxes are stacked in three by three at her right and at the back wall there's the bookshelf. Dust covers every inch of the room and she can see the dust flying through the air after previously being kicked up by walk down.

Serina asks, "What is this place?"

Sakura begins with a strong voice, "This is the last of what I can give you, your heritage and who you are in detail. This is history, your history documented. All the information we have of the Void Century everything having to do with it and especially why. I trust that you can take over from here, Serina-chan." Serina looks around the room once before nodding, "Hai ka-san." (A/N: just in case, "Yes Mother")

Sakura turns to leave while Serina gets to work. She despises the dust that looks as though it's centuries old, which it probably is. So she begins with cleaning and gathering supplies from her house while making sure to lock the door when she's not inside and making sure to lock it so as not to be disturbed. Sakura had previously given her the only key to the room, she told her that the key was now hers, that her brothers don't know about it, and one of the condition of occupying the house was for Masahiro to vow to never glance upon such precious documents. He is not a descendant therefore he has no right. Her brothers had no right either and they didn't need to know about the past.

After finishing with cleaning Serina gets to work on reading everything. First she looks over just the general history then she gets into the more detailed stuff like personal diaries and accounts of events that took place. Serina learns about the poneglyphs but the writing on them is coded. She gets to work learning the language before she goes over all the different poneglyphs and what they say as well as learning their location. Within a week she has gleaned and committed to memory everything she could possibly get from the books and retains it.

When she first began a great spark grew in her eyes about learning about Yuki and this spark did not go unnoticed. Her older brothers by five and four years even liked this new Serina. She showed emotion in talking about Yuki, her mother said that she could only talk to the immediate family about what she learned. When she finished, however, reading and learning everything in the basement the spark was gone and her intimidation set everyone on edge again. Her hope had been dispelled.

Her brother Katashi asked, "What happened to you? You aren't bugging us with the great Yuki-sama anymore?" Serina turned her gaze on him and her piercing eyes bore into him before replying, "What use is there of knowing the past anyway." Within her minds-cape, however, Serina already knew the answer but she wished she didn't know. She was angry with Yuki and disliked the fact that the townspeople only associated her existence with Yuki. She couldn't grasp how Yuki could be so careless, so weak.

There was one misplaced journal that alluded her in her search for knowledge and that was Yuki's account of everything and Serina never got the information from Yuki's perspective and her words probably would have made Serina think differently, unfortunately she never got to read it and never even knew it existed.

She only knew the other people's accounts and how they all blamed Yuki for her foolish behavior, she should have put them first and worked hard. There were detailed manuscripts analyzing how different things should have gone and if she had done this or that then... Serina was angry with her, Yuki had let them down and now her choices were still affecting the Uchiha. Serina questioned her purpose from then on but her still child-like body couldn't grasp the responsibility weighing down on her already.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Hope you guys enjoyed, you know what to do with reviewing and all that. Until next time ;)


	3. Consequences for Dreaming

**Author's Note:** Okay here's Chapter two, took me a while to write and I honestly could have made this a bit longer but I thought it was already a bit much. **Whitebeard **and **Marco** make an appearance this Chapter, probably won't make another appearance for a while. I have to decide who all will be included in next week's chapter but stay tuned. I also changed the rating to Mature because it will be getting pretty mature from here on out, the first two chapters update were both kind of prologue part one and two but it's definitely going to pick up now.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is owned by others.

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 2

Serina walks down the street heading to the town bar for her father to deliver a message to the bartender. As always, she ignores the silence surrounding her despite the previous bustle. She walks on the little grassy clearing before turning onto the wooden boards made as a path and goes into the bar. She pushes open the swinging doors and looks to the bartender who freezes momentarily at the sight of her. Something is out of place within the bar though, pirates are present. _Strange, _she thinks, _usually people can't spot the town from the sea._

There are some telltale signs that people live close by on the beach but people don't usually enter the forest. They usually head over to the large town on Baterilla. _They must be stupid, _she reasons. Anyways she heads to the bartender and climbs onto a stool, she's short but she's growing fast both her parents are fairly tall individuals so she expects to grow to be approximately 6' 2 (A/N: just in case, six foot two inches) probably taller if she's lucky.

Once on the stool she waits to be addressed by the bartender, another tall individual with a thin black goatee. Serina waits five minutes for the bartender to finally get up the nerve to address her. He starts, "Why are you here, Serina?"

With an inaudible and unnoticeable sigh, Serina responds, "Otousan asked me to tell you that he wants you to go to the house after closing the bar so you can discuss the details over who's going into town and what supplies we need." Once finished she waits for his response, if he has one. Another minute passes before Haruki speaks again, "Alright, I'll talk to him about it later. You can leave now."

Serina starts climbing down from the chair after the rude dismissal. Her features continue to show unfeeling. When she nears the door a voice calls out to her, "Hey! Where ya goin girly?" Her eyes widen at the attention she never gets, but only for a fraction before her stoicism returns. She turns to the speaker, one of the pirates. He smiles wide showing all his pearly whites before continuing, "Come over and have a chat with us." Since it is an adult who addresses her, she has to comply. Haruki with his yellow eyes with cross-shaped pupils watches the interaction from behind the counter. Serina walks over to the pirate's table and once again has to climb up onto the stool and wait to be addressed once more.

The pirate who called to her sits across from her on the round high table, he has wrinkles around his mouth from signs of laughing a lot and blonde spiky hair. He wears a yellow Captain's coat over his shoulder with a white button up shirt underneath. Serina refrains from looking in his eyes so as not to issue any unspoken challenge, something that's been drilled into her, all formal. The Captain addresses her once more, "What's your name girly?"

Serina, at having been addressed, retorts, "It's polite to give one's own name before asking another." Blondy smiles wide once more, "Aye! My name is Goldstrike Yoshio, the Captain of these hardy boys!" Goldstrike gestures to the other men occupying the surrounding tables.

Serina nods in understanding and responds, "My name is Serina." Goldstrike whistles, "That's a mighty fine name ya got there kid." She nods once more but has nothing to respond with. The way these pirates act compared to her own people is very strange to her and they even talk to her. A feeling of intrigue overcomes her but one of the pirates from the crew asks, "Hey Serina-chan you wanna hear a story?" The little girl's eyes widen at the honorific usually only given to her by her mother and from the shock of these people continuing to include her in their conversation. She nods almost timidly.

These jolly pirates go on to talk about the Grand Line and the massive ocean life called Sea Kings and all about the Yonko and how the Goldstrike pirates are allies with Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world who's beginning to pass his prime along with Roger the Pirate King, they're both getting older. The Goldstrike pirates root for Whitebeard all the way even though Roger is still around to say otherwise. They talk about a strong new candidate for Yonko named Shanks and other various pirates of the world. They tell Serina all sorts of things about Devil Fruit and the corruptness of the World Government. So much Serina never knew about the world, well she is only three years old. The men love seeing the life in what at first appeared to be the lifeless form of a child. The wonder of the world fills Serina's heart and mind and she wishes she could experience what these pirate do, the freedom to be oneself and not give a damn what others think or expect. All the while, Haruki's eyes bore into Serina's back at her foolishness in fraternizing with potential enemies.

Their talks go on until dusk and Serina feels Haruki's presence behind her right before he clears his throat to speak. Goldstrike notices the light go out from Serina's eyes and the bartender starts, "Serina, I will be closing the bar soon, I think it's time for you to go home," he turns to the pirates, "thank you for your patronage, but as I said the bar will be closing soon." Getting the message, Goldstrike stands up with his men following suit and responds, "You don't have to tell us twice." Goldstrike flashes a winning smile and it stays while he looks down at Serina who climbs off the stool and he addresses her, "It was nice meeting you Serina-chan. We'll be heading off now then."

Serina nods and walks out the door with Goldstrike behind. When they're both out and on the grass and Serina gives the surrounding area a once over, she turns to Goldstrike and gives that D smile and says, "Thank you." Goldstrike smiles wide as well at her enormous show of emotion and nods before turning away and heading out of the town towards where they probably left their ship.

* * *

(Goldstrike's PoV)

What a strange little girl. To be completely blank all the time only not when around strangers. He frowns visibly and wonders what could affect a child this way. He wonders about her lifestyle and home life, how her parents treat her. He did think the bartender addressed her a little rudely. One of his men, Toshi, exclaims, "Did anyone else notice the theme with hair color in that town?"

That fact dawns on Goldstrike and his blonde brows quirk to show his deep thought over that little trait of the people but then... _Serina's hair was brown, yet everyone we saw in town today had black hair... How strange._

Goldstrike puts it from his mind as he clambers on board his ship and kneels for his oncoming five year old son, Taro, to crash into him smiling. The Captain easily picks up his blonde-haired blue-eyed child and smiles at him as he says, "Otousan, gi-chan called on the den den mushi asking that we go back to the New World to have a drink with him." Goldstrike nods, _so Oyaji wants to catch up, might as well, haven't seen him in a while._ The crew gets to work in setting sail although Goldstrike cannot seem to forget about that little girl in that hidden town on Baterilla.

* * *

(Serina's PoV)

Watching the pirates go made my heart feel heavy. My smile faded once they were out of sight and all I could think about when watching them go was, _Take me with you. _Instead they just left without another word and no promises they could break. Haruki comes out of the bar once the light has all gone out from the sky except for the moon's reflected.

Haruki doesn't give me another glance and heads down the path toward my house down at the end of the town facing all the others. After an hour of just standing there in the moonlight contemplating and thinking about everything the pirates told me I decide it's safe to go home for dinner. I walk at a slow pace because I don't want to be around Haruki and for the whole talking with pirates deal to come up. I know my father won't approve.

When I reach my house, I see light shining through our front room window and voices speaking in serious tones. I think nothing of it and enter. When I shut the door and turn to see Haruki and my father now talking in hushed serious tones, I shrug it off and head to the kitchen to see the status on dinner. Kasan tells me that I'm just in time and that Haruki was just leaving. I simply nod and go to set the table for my mother while she finishes everything all up.

Eventually Haruki does leave and my father enters the dining room spotting me at my seat waiting for further instruction from anyone. He goes to sit at the head like usual and my brothers come over to sit at their seats across from me. When my mother has finished and sits herself down at the other end of the table we begin to eat. There's no talking.

* * *

(No PoV)

Three months pass without major or noteworthy incident until Haruki is over for dinner and tells about Serina's spending some time at the bar with pirates. It's storming outside, hurricane weather.

After Haruki tries an underhanded insult on Serina, with her simply being the smart little one that she is and retorting in a fashion that is strangely rude but not, just so blunt that other people consider it rude. For revenge, Haruki then brings up the pirate incident turning to her father, "So Masahiro did Serina tell you about the friends she made three months ago?" Serina's eyes widen slightly but revert to normal within a millisecond. Masahiro raises an eyebrow, "No she did not. Care to explain Haruki?"

Haruki wears a small smirk but it fades at the sight of Serina's impassive face, as though she had not a care in the world about what he has to say. Faintly disgruntled, Haruki continues, "Oh yes, when you told her to give me the message about meeting up to discuss details of our little excursion there were some pirates hanging out in the bar. She seemed quite friendly with them." A dark shadow passes over Masahiro's face at the mention of pirates. He wanted his daughter to strive to be a Marine.

Masahiro, without any sign of ill feeling, turns to Serina at his side, "What do you have to say about this?" Serina stares at the food on her plate thinking, _I can't lie and tell him that it was nothing, I can't, not when I felt alive when talking to them, like the future wasn't such a dark place after all. _Coming to a decision, Serina's eyes meet her father's, "They were my friends. I don't want to live here when I grow up, I want to be a pirate." Masahiro's purple eyes narrow and he responds, "We'll discuss that later."

Tension surrounds the table that night but only coming from everyone but Serina, she is eerily calm, as always. When Haruki leaves and ventures out into the storm, despite the horrible weather, he can't help but smile, _Serves that brat right!_ Meanwhile Masahiro closes the door to the howling storm outside and turns to Serina who stands behind him avoiding his eyes. Masahiro begins, "So what did you want to be when you grow up?" Malice is laced in his every word, Serina takes note but isn't afraid and responds calmly, "A pirate."

_The audacity of this child! _Masahiro thinks, but his anger continues to rise and he says, "You will work toward being a Marine for your people." A spark flares in Serina's brown eyes as she asks, "What have they done for me? And if anything otousan the logic behind being a Marine is invalid. They would simply find a way to dispose of me and then come back to the town to finish the job." Masahiro finally erupts, "You do what I tell you! I don't give a damn about what you think, and what's this entitlement like the town owes you something!? You live for the Uchiha!"

Serina's own anger grows, "The Uchiha don't want me! They don't need me! You think I haven't heard you reassuring everyone that **_when _**I fail it's not like I was necessary in the first place! Why should I live for the Uchiha when they don't do anything for me! They all pretend I don't exist! You all do! Even my own flesh and blood, you, my brothers. The only one who hasn't turned their back on me is Kasan!"

Masahiro at this point is blinded by rage and sneers, "We don't need you! We don't want you! Why didn't you just go with your little pirate buddies! Not even they wanted you! Your whole existence is cursed, nobody would want you in their life!" Serina's face shows only resolve, _you have no facts to back that up with._ Before she can think her father barks, "Sakura, come here!" Like the good wife she is, Sakura arrives on scene within three seconds. Serina wonders what her father is going to pull, "Tell your daughter what you really think of her, how she's worthless and shouldn't have been born."

Serina remains solid, trusting in her mother to stand up for her, if only her mother had a spine, Sakura's eyes widen and she does not meet Serina's as she says in a quavering voice, "Serina... it w-w-would've b-been b-b-etter if y-you had n-n-never b-been b-born..." Serina's eyes widen noticeably and her father rejoices in the emotion being shown, he sneers, "You see, everyone thinks it and you know what. I've decided. You're out!" He grabs Serina by the arm who only stares at her mother while Masahiro opens the door to the cold raging world outside.

Serina feels betrayal, she always knew that her mother was spineless but she thought she had strength where it counted most. Sakura continues to not meet her gaze, _Serina, I'm so sorry! _Masahiro throws Serina out, literally, and she lands with a thud on the mud covered ground, a giant puddle from the continuing rain. She's soaked in an instant and the wind beats down on her but she turns to faces her father easily disregarding the blood trailing down her arms and legs from landing on the jagged rocks already on the path. Masahiro turns without any hesitation and shuts the door making the light disappear and letting the darkness shroud Serina.

She looks at the puddle after going through every detail of what just happened and decides, _it's for the best. _She turns to go to the forest behind her house and heads in to look for shelter because she sure as hell knows nobody in this town would allow her some. Her cuts continue to bleed for quite some time and she actually worries about infection. She knows she has to find some herbs and think about how to gather food and such to take care of herself for the time being until she finds a way to move on.

Serina comes upon a cave surrounded by a dirt clearing, now mud, but the water goes around the rock formation. Once inside she finds it to be dry so she has officially decided to flourish there. The town is situated at the base of one of the hills on Baterilla, so going through the forest is actually going up a hill which means the water goes down to the hill and floods the town to some degree before getting washed out with the ocean.

She sits in her little cave waiting out the storm and making a mental list of what she needs: food, water, weapons, clothes, herbs. She knows, animals=food, animals=clothes, river or lake=water, forest=herbs. Good thing her father and mother taught her basic first aid and how to identify herbs and useful plants, along with how to prepare food and make clothes, and how to hunt and make her own weapons as well as find water. _I calculate my survival rate to be quite high._

When the storm does pass Serina gets to work making her weapons, first she makes little rock knives that are easy to hold and quite sharp, she makes a bow and arrow thinking that it fits as a good hunting tool. Then she stalks through the forest surveying and memorizing every crook and cranny surrounding her cave. No feeling of regret or sorrow occupy her, she is simply surviving now.

Through the months, she rarely ventures into the town only when she wants to check on everything. She becomes even more lean and little muscles form on her still developing body. Everyone continues to ignore her but she can still hear their whispers as she walks by, they talk of her wild appearance and how she truly isn't suited for human contact. They think her savage, yet she's probably the most refined of them all. She made her own clothes from animal skins and washed the clothes she was thrown out in. Still the skill which the clothes were made are something to gape at.

Her peers cannot appreciate her talents because of their overall dislike clouds them. When she does leave, what will they do? She still goes into stores and the local library with books from the outside world. She used to spend most of her time there but now she has to sneak in and be unseen while reading on how to accomplish different tasks.

* * *

When Serina was around five she came across a strange fruit in the forest. She had had an unsuccessful hunt that day.

~Earlier that day~

There she was, a lithe little girl tracking a deer. No sound rang from her step for none existed, the only sound came from the birds communicating by tweet. Even they didn't notice the hunter stalking through the forest. She spotted the deer through the tree line and set to knocking her arrow. She gets ready to aim but another deer comes into her eye-line. A great stag and compared to the deer he is full grown. She realizes she had been stalking a fawn.

The stag sniffs his fawn deciding she's okay before turning his gaze straight at Serina, challenging her to do something. She meets his gaze unwaveringly and a silent respect forms, she decides she can find other means of food since it's still early. Although, after that encounter she was lost in thought about how the stag was ready to protect his little fawn and she thought of her own father. He'd let her die knowing he could have done something to prevent it.

Because she can no longer focus and dusk is already upon her she decides to head home and just eat some of the leftovers from the other night.

~Present~

Serina sees what appears to be a fruit but it has an uncanny characteristic. It seems to glow like the moon. She picks up the mysterious fruit which seems to radiate white. She squeezes it in her hands a bit, testing the hardness, seems ripe. She smells it, _it doesn't seem to give off a scent?_ Finally she thinks what the hay... *swallow*

Then she carries on her merry way praying the fruit doesn't kill her, she'd just fade from existence if she died, as if she were never present.

It's only when she slinks through town that some boys spot her and, well, they think it's their lucky day. The pick on her calling her names and she notices they only have the gall to speak with her now because their parents aren't around to tell them to back off. Apparently their parents think Serina will kill them or something, the boys don't share that belief. Serina never has that problem with girls though, they just pretend she doesn't exist.

Serina simply stands in the alleyway with her usual stoic face while the boys sneer at her and mock her, trying to get a rise or make her cry, she doesn't care. They sneer, "Freak" "Monster" "Chibi" "Why don't you just never come back?" "Yeah why do you keep coming back?" "Nobody wants you here, yet you keep coming back." "Not even your own family." A twitch in her brow goes unnoticed, the spark has been lit once more.

Fire churns through her stomach as the boys continue, but her fire dissipates when her brother stops once in the alleyway. Katashi with his dark green-eyed girlfriend. He turns to face into the alleyway and sees his sister surrounded, but without a second glance or thought he turns back to his girlfriend and they keep talking. A shadow falls over Serina's eyes, _he kept on walking. He saw me and he still kept on walking!_The boys didn't notice though and when their voices fade back to full volume they notice a change and the first boys to notice have the look on their faces wiped off.

Serina's very eyes glow yellow, much to the surprise of her and the boys a deep growl emanates from her very own throat. This gets the other boys' attention. _I can''t control my anger!_ Her short nails grow into claws and fangs begin to protrude from her mouth, the deep growl continues. The only thought which occupies Serina's mind, _Blood, Carnage, Death! _At this point in time, most of the boys are pretty frightened but the few stupid ones argue, "She's only one girl, we can take her! Even if she is 'the chosen one'" he says that last part with such malice and his words spark some bravery in some of the other boys, but when they go in to attack, Serina lands a blow on all of them with such speed that they fly away on impact. Despite her slipping control she aimed not to kill, she only shed a little blood... just a little...

Some run after they regain their awareness and scream, "Monster! She's trying to kill us!" _I'M NOT A MONSTER! You all started this in the first place!_

She grabs her arm as it twitches, she just wants to feel their blood and flesh being torn and cut by her claws, to see their faces of terror. She desperately wants to murder those who have wronged her. _No! I'm not a... Monster!_ She leans against the wall of the alley focusing on breathing with her eyes shut in concentration.

_Calm down, fight the urge!_

_You know you want to kill them, they deserve it too._

_I will not be what they call me, they can be the monsters, I never did anything to warrant their behavior._

_Oh come on Serina-chan, grow up, the world is a dark place. Give them a reason! A reason to call you monster, a reason to FEAR YOU!_

_No! I know the world is harsh but I won't give up on it yet, not until I've seen it! Not until I've experienced it, and met the people outside this town._

_Pish Posh, you're gonna find out sooner or later that the only place for you in the world is at the top with the way there slick with your enemy's blood. Just let your dark side out, you know you want to._

_Go away!_

_For now, but just wait and see, you need me._

With her urges calmed down Serina feels a sudden pain in her head, and feels liquid trickling down past her brow and cheek. The boys now are apparently throwing rocks, _Great._ Serina runs with the rocks pelting down and cutting up her skin and the boys continue to shout "Don't come back!" and more of the "Freak" "Monster" "Beast" "Demon Girl."

Only when Serina has gone a ways into the forest does she stop running. A rock hit her in the side slashing it. Those boys really didn't hold back. She starts to feel angry again and she notices the change, her bloodlust rises with her anger. Where did this bloodlust come from? Her 'dark side' comes back.

_Why it came from me, Serina-chan._

_Why are you here anyways, I never had this problem before._

_Serina! I am offended, did you just refer to me as a problem? I assure you, I am the solution! When you've had enough of these people you will turn to me to give you power, the power to kill your enemies. I will show you a world red with blood!_

_Can you just leave already? I was here first, therefore I get seniority over you, so I say "Shut the hell up!"_

_..._

Serina shakes her head once deducing that she must be losing her mind. _Simple as that. _Her vision blurs and she further deduces that her wounds are becoming infected and she should probably head to her cave otherwise she'll die.

The trek is long and hard and she stumbles and has to lean on the trees for support. _I've lost too much blood._ She feels hot. She eventually stumbles into the clearing with her little makeshift camp-fireplace at her head from where she fell. She drags herself around to the cave and crawls inside with difficulty and she starts making a paste to smear on her cuts. When finished she falls into unconsciousness.

Over the course of two days she fades in and out, never seeming to have a strong foothold in reality before going back to the realm of dreams. She dreams of a terrifying white dragon destroying and setting fire to the town. Another time she dreams of killing all the people in the town from the old to the young and enjoying the blood dripping from her fingertips, and then to she licks it and it tastes so good, she howls with pleasure. Upon awakening she tries to shake the thoughts out of her head but she's horrified that that could be her future.

On the second day, she finally gains her foothold. The infection hasn't passed and she understands, _I need stronger medicine. _Thus she must venture into town and in such a weak state. She knows a way to the pharmacy that's usually unused but she really doesn't want risk going into town. _It must be done or I'll die. _With that thought she starts the rough journey into town leaning on trunks and stumbling when there are none.

She sticks to the shadows of the trees when she comes in the vicinity of the town, Serina finds an alleyway that she can sneak through that passes near the pharmacy. A footstep sounds at one of the openings to the clearing at the center of the town. She freezes but the footsteps keep going without faltering and when she looks to see a mother of one of the boys walking by, she doesn't seem happy. Serina frowns outwardly, guessing why she might be unhappy or angry.

She finally reaches the backdoor to the pharmacy and she realizes the lady who runs the place may not even care to give her some meds. Serina had only heard of the lady and she never met her, she heard the lady was old and cold but she never had the chance of finding out for herself. It came as a surprise when the white haired old lady bursts through the door her dark blue eyes fixing immediately on Serina's small form leaning against the wall opposite her. Her wrinkled face is set in a stern frown and after what feels like years to Serina, the old lady speaks, "Well, you just gonna stay there staring all day or you gonna come in and get treated?" With that she moves back inside expecting Serina to follow.

Bewildered, Serina hesitates a moment before struggling inside only to come across a small apartment-like room which she assumes lays behind the actual pharmacy store. The old lady motions for her to follow through one of the doors so Serina follows behind and they come to a small white room with a silver examination table with a sink and counters and cupboards with a door leading to the pharmacy outside. Serina climbs up onto the examination table with some difficulty as her vision starts to swim from exhaustion.

The old lady gets to work cleaning her wounds and bandaging her up and giving her a shot of antibiotics. Afterwards she goes to sit back on the chair beside the door they entered from, she slouches and fixes her gaze on Serina who remains indifferent. The lady speaks up, "Not going to ask my name? Tch, how rude the kids are these days."

Serina responds quickly, "It is polite to wait to be addressed by an elder before speaking or asking questions. So may I ask what is your name? Mine is Serina."

The old lady cracks a smile at her words, "Oh got some sass in yeh then. My name is Agnes and you didn't have to give me your name, I, like everyone else in this town, know of you." Serina simply shrugs while saying, "It's still polite."

Agnes nods in agreement, "Damn kids these days, look at what those little fuckers did to you, and their damn parents are no good either. I was surprised ya know, to hear that Masahiro-baka kicked you out. How old are you exactly anyways?"

"I'm five."

"Tch, only five years old and you're already out facing the world alone."

"..."

Agnes waits with her eyes having that far off look, Serina waits patiently to be dismissed, Agnes then begins, "Serina, how about you come here every once in a while to give me some help with the pharmacy, I'm getting old and I need some company. It's your choice and feel free to decline." _She has no reason to trust me but the girl needs a friend and so do I. These youngsters think she's the devil sent to kill them off. She'll probably refuse after all the harsh treatment she's been given. _Agnes' eyes widen, however, when Serina says, "Okay, I accept." Agnes grins wide showing pearly whites, "Good," _still trusting, eh?_

* * *

~Back with Goldstrike~

Finally after months and months Goldstrike is finally back in the New World and smiles heartily when his lookout spots a giant ship in the distance, a great white whale ship. Upon closer inspection he sees the familiar black pirate flag, the mark of the Whitebeard pirates.

His crew is welcomed with open arms by the haughty Whitebeard pirates with Oyaji in his great chair, his face one of contentment. Goldstrike and his own crew members smile happily and Oyaji booms, "Men! Let us welcome our family back!" "

"Yeahh!" all the men cheer. Marco with his pineapple-headedness comes up to Goldstrike with big grin, "Welcome back, I'm sure you have some stories to tell yoi?"

Goldstrike nods, "First let's feast!" At this, the party begins and they all drink and joke around with each other and eat. The party goes on for hours and hours. Whitebeard's booming "Gurarara" laugh can be heard occasionally and finally after Goldstrike has told most of what he and his crew explored he comes to the last story.

Goldstrike mentions, "Right before you guys called we were docked at Baterilla in the South Blue. There happened to be a small town in the forest a ways so we got to hang out in the bar. It was strange though, this town, all the people we saw roaming the streets had black hair and there was a little girl who had brown. She seemed to be an outcast, poor little gal."

The explanation of the town and it's people bring a frown to Whitebeard's younger face, his own blonde locks trailing onto his neck. He asks, "All black hair you say? With one brown haired girl?" Goldstrike nods.

Marco asks, "Does that ring a bell yoi?" Whitebeard merely responds, "Ah, it does. A legend Roger once told me about. I'm sure it means nothing..." The surrounding people shrug it off but Whitebeard asks one last question on the matter, "What was the girl's name?"

Goldstrike smiles, "She had a real pretty one, her name was Serina." Then the matter is settled and the two crews continue to chat idly and heartily. Only Whitebeard thinks on the matter some more, _chosen one, huh? Next time I see Roger I'll have to tell him about her._

* * *

**Author's End Note: **So I hope you enjoyed, I wrote 2,000 more words this week for you guys. You know what to do Review, Favorite, Follow please! Until next time ;)


	4. Decisions, Decisions

**Author's Note: **I'm so sorry! I'm so late! My computer is stupid and I could not figure out one of the scenes layout for the longest time and then I'm so busy but now my words are flowing freely and I'm actually using a different laptop right now because mine is really slow and do you know how hard it is to type when your computer can't keep up with your mad typing skills and it's so retarded that it keeps forgetting and adding in extra letters. My goodness! Then I also had to do research because I'm so official like that... Anyways everything's good now.. hopefully.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is already owned by others.

Also if you want to know what characters are included in this chapter that you should know: **Bellemere, Nami, Nojiko.**

**Warning:** Nothing too bad just cursing, blood, death, etc. In later chapters there will be some heavy bad stuff so watch out.

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 3

Serina quite enjoyed spending time with Agnes, the old lady never let a dull moment go by. Serina would be organizing the stock of drugs while Agnes blabbers on and on about the world outside. Serina had yet to go into town, only adults were allowed to go and usually they only took two of the newbies. By Uchiha standards, a child reached adulthood at fourteen but they weren't fully grown until say twenty depending on lineage.

Agnes would talk about, "I had an idiot brother once..." or "I once got in a fight with your grandfather over your weakling of a mother, he tried to defend her sorry ass! Then I told him and her off, told her, 'Why don't you fight for yourself?' and told him, 'Back off! I'm talking to your daughter not you! Not my fault your daughter's a silent little..." Serina absolutely adored her stories, or just stories in general of her lineage and the tournaments held in town every year and how Agnes had won most of them. Serina wasn't sure she believed her on most of them.

Agnes would cook for Serina and they would talk and after the fourth visit Serina was ready to respond to Agnes and give some stories of her own and she told her about the reason she was kicked out. Serina started, "Well I met these pirates after giving a message to Haruki for otousan and they told me all kinds of things about the world outside the town. They told me about Whitebeard and a very famous pirate named Gol D. Roger. He's a D like me! The Captain of the crew told me about the Marines and their hero Monkey D. Garp and all these other things about the world outside. They told me about Sea Kings, that are ginormous and can grow larger than the biggest ship. There's also this phenomena named Devil Fruit. I think I ate one..."

Agnes eyes narrow at Serina's mentioning of her eating a devil fruit, "What do you mean you ate one?"

Serina shrugs, "I found a weird fruit in the forest on the way home from a hunt and swallowed it whole..."

Agnes asks, "What fruit was it? Do you know? What powers do you have?"

Again, Serina shrugs frowning, "I have claws and fangs and a craving for blood. I'm not sure what else, the boys in town saw me change, but I could never do that until I ate that weird fruit."

Agnes nods in understanding, "I see." Then she seems to decide something, "Where are you with your studies Serina? Did you finish learning the basics?" Serina nods then Agnes' eyes fade as she ponders something more.

Serina shifts her weight as she had been standing at the counter getting syringes filled, with Agnes at her seat at the door. The silence continues for a few more minutes before Agnes rises and beckons Serina to follow her.

They reenter Agnes' little back room/home and she leads her to a square wood flap that leads to what Serina assumes is her basement. The whole floor is wood with a kitchen next to the door that goes into the checkup room. There's a small living room and two doors on the left upon entering the room from the backdoor which Serina always enters from. Agnes throws open the little wood flap door thing... They start their descent to the basement and of course Serina never makes any noise when walking, but it doesn't bother Agnes. Finally they reach the bottom floor and the basement is huge but Agnes leads them straight and turns on a light. Serina's eyes widen at two twin katana, one full black and one full white, yin and yang.

The black blade of yin really stands out to Serina, she admires the way it still glows despite being completely dark. Yang seems to glow as well, as if it's catching the light. The hilt of yin is white while the hilt of yang is black. Serina is so enraptured by these katana that she almost jumps when Agnes places a hand on her shoulder. Agnes' voice fills her head as she asks, "Would you like me to teach you how to wield these beautiful blades, my pride and joy?" Serina nods simply, at a loss for words. Agnes smiles a small lip smile and she says, "I've got a few more good years in me before I'm ready to give these up though. We'll start with Bokken first of course."(A/N: Bokken are the bamboo pole type sword thingys that they use to train swordsmen)

And so Serina's training began, Agnes, too, was amazed by the skill and speed in which Serina learned. First, Agnes trained with her using ittoryuu but after she saw how advanced Serina was with defense and attack technique, she easily moved up to training with nitoryuu. Agnes asked her to do simple exercises before they started to spar. Serina's face lit up instantly at the fun sparring rounds they went through and how competitive they got. Serina would be pushed to the brink with sweat pouring down her face and Agnes would light up as she was winning until Serina would pull a fast one pushing Agnes back with swipe after swipe and all Agnes could do was deflect and back up. Then she would step out of bounds and Serina, smiling wide, won.

Agnes would bonk her on the head with the Bokken and Serina would be rubbing the bump on her head with a look of indignation, "Hey, what was that for?"

Agnes the fire burning behind her would raise a fist saying, "Stop making this a competition!" Serina would raise an eyebrow, _yeah, I made this a competition._

Agnes came to love Serina and would hate it every time Serina left to go back to the forest. They would be apart for at most five days before Serina could make it down again. Agnes couldn't blame her though, she had to hunt and tend the garden she told her about. Agnes still worried and she saw sometimes whenever Serina felt pushed into a corner or had to think about what happened with her family, Agnes would notice her usually brown eyes flash a wolfish yellow and she thought she could see some fangs start to protrude. She always figured, _Serina wouldn't be able to notice if her eyes change color._

* * *

A storm started to brew when Serina headed down to Agnes' place taking the usual route behind all the buildings. She knocked twice on the door and heard a muffled, "Enter." Pushing the door open, Serina saw Agnes on her couch with an old medical book in her lap. She looked quite comfy, Serina smiled faintly at the sight, she was happy for the moment and that not everyone hated her, it gave her hope. Agnes bookmarks her page before looking up at Serina with a wrinkled lip smile, "So what would you like to do today kid?"

Serina smiles in return, "Would you like me to organize stock for the pharmacy and all that and then, maybe after, can we train some more?"

Agnes nods in agreement, "Well go ahead in, you already know where all that shit is."

The work Serina does for Agnes isn't hard or very time consuming. She doesn't mind though, the only time she minds is when she has to go into the actual store because there's no telling when a customer might enter to find the hated 'chosen one' at work. Serina places the bottles and boxes on their correct shelves in the front store and takes inventory so that Agnes can give the medicine names to Masahiro so he knows which to look for in town.

Good thing about Serina's nonexistent footstep is that it makes it easier for her to silently slip behind the counter in the back and sneak into the checkup room so as to escape the eyes of the townspeople. She had a feeling if people knew she was working and spending time with Agnes the it would ruin business for the pharmacy or they might put someone else in charge of the it.

The way the town works is the people who own the shops provide the merchandise for everyone and the people outside that work force provide the food and water. There are families who run the mills and farms and those that provide electricity, only a little though. The Uchiha make up a kind of utopia where everyone provides for the other, there isn't really any issue of currency but for the items the Uchiha must get from the outside world some merchandise and food is set aside to sell for beli which ends up paying for the businesses.

On this stormy day, Serina didn't have time to disappear. She only heard a gasp after the thunder finished sounding, which is what masked the person's entry in the first place. Her face became impassive once more at the sight of a mother of one of the boys. The mother took a moment to decide if she really was seeing Serina and after Serina saw the fire light in her eyes and a vein started to throb on her forehead showing just how enraged she was.

The mother, whom is a very short but a slim lady wearing some jeans and a blue sweater which contrast her orange eyes, "Why are you here, filth?" She all but snarls the question and something within Serina begins to awaken.

Serina rolls her eyes at the question, although the lady couldn't notice because Serina is just that good, then she says, "I help out Agnes from time to time."

Orange-eyes sneers, "No one needs your help! I bet you're lying and stealing. You take and take from your own people, you little thief, taking and never giving back. You threaten our existence, I'd love to see what Agnes does to you once she finds out you've been stealing from her."

"Who's been stealing from me?" Agnes enters from the door at the back, she wears a look of intrigue at this woman's words.

"Oh Agnes look the little chosen brat has been stealing your meds, she claims she works for you," orange-eyes glares heatedly at Serina, who ignores her plainly with a look of indifference.

"Does she now, well actually Serina doesn't work for me," the lady smirks but it fades after, "she just helps out a bit around the house and shop, but she's not exactly employed." An evil glint shines in Agnes' eyes at the mother's frown.

Serina decides she has nothing to lose, "I think you owe me an apology. Assuming something is fact, doesn't make it one."

At this the mother's anger flares up and she starts taking steps toward Serina, "You still are no benefit to the town, scaring my son with your demonic presence, the best choice Masahiro-chief ever made was kicking you out, now look at you, still leeching off the town, off poor Agnes. She's probably only doing charity."

The lady's words cut deep into Serina's soul and her anger flares up as well, Agnes steps in when she notices the change in Serina's posture and once she has Serina right in front of her does she notice the yellow eyes staring at Lyra from the shadow of her forehead and the claws extended with fangs included. Agnes places a hand on Serina's shoulder unaware of the argument going on in her head.

* * *

I can feel the anger emanating from the woman and she only gets closer but I have anger of my own to burn. After her little speech is finished, I know that I desperately want to kill her. Suddenly the light in the room seems brighter, when before I could barely make out the darkest corners of the room but now I can see clearly. I can hear the three heartbeats in the room but my focus is on the one coming towards me.

_Let's Kill Her!_

_Oh, you again..._

_Come on just kill her, you know you want to._

_But... I don't want to be a monster._

_Just let me out and I'll be the monster for you, oh come on, I'm bored I want to see the blood running from her throat and hear her gasp for breath after I'm done tearing her to pieces and see the look on her face when I chomp on her throat with my fangs._

_That... sounds... really good._

_Let's do this then!_

A simple touch pulls me from my dark thoughts and I turn to look up at Agnes whose face is solemn, one look in those deep blue eyes and I know everything she's thinking. I stand down.

* * *

Agnes notices the glow disappear from Serina's eyes, _good, she's calm, and now..._ Agnes turns to Lyra and she reprimands her, "How dare you think to speak such words to a child. Serina is a very pleasant girl and she'll grow into a fine Uchiha woman. She is no leech, if anything I am leeching off her, she gives and she never takes. A good person in the making and nobody can take credit for her. Now you shut your mouth, child! Don't go around telling everyone how weak your son is by picking a fight and then needing his mommy to come and finish it for him. Get out now! Your face makes me want to hit something."

Lyra's jaw is on the floor at Agnes' words, and it takes everything Serina has to suppress a giggle. Agnes gets into her fighting stance with one fist pulled back, the air shifts around her, at the concentration she holds, just storing all her power in one punch. Lyra gets the message and scurries out. Once the door slams shut Serina looks to Agnes whose hands have already fallen. _She was really going to punch her! _Serina smiles wide and Agnes too. They both crack up, "Did you see her face!?" "Hell yeah!" "Ah that was priceless!" "Kodak moment!" "Pure gold!"

The boom of thunder fills their ears and it starts pouring outside. Serina wipes away a small tear from laughing so hard and notes, _I should probably head back. _She turns to Agnes, "Ne, I should get back otherwise the storm could cause some complications." Agnes nods in agreement, "Yeah alright."

Serina goes to walk out while saying, "I finished the inventory already, and everything. Next time can we just train?"

"Sure."

Serina turns around and flashes Agnes a smile, "Thanks Agnes-san." Then she turns back and walks between the rooms before getting into the alleyway. Agnes smirks at her understanding completely well what Serina was talking about. Her dulled motherly instincts kick in a little too late, and she realizes she just let Serina walk out into a powerful hurricane. _Aw shit, I've got a bad feeling about this._

* * *

Serina trudges through the cold and rain and wind, but she doesn't give too much thought about it. Just one thought, _Get to shelter. _She takes the usual route by the cove and water splashes across her shins spraying her with the dirt from the forest floor. The water runs down the incline towards Serina but she continues on and finally has the cove to her side. Extreme care is necessary when taking this route, even if there isn't a hurricane and a raging sea below hitting the cliff face with such power the very vibration shakes Serina's own soul.

Only drenched brush is on Serina's left side, the reason she has to take this little path is because some idiot decided it would be a good idea for bushes and other plant life with thorns to cover most of the forest as a barrier to people traveling by land. No one ever considered that the barrier also keeps the Uchiha in, but back then their fear was of the outside world, still is. The plants were left to just grow and multiply and spread into a massive thorny barrier.

Serina inches slowly along the ledge above the storming sea and finally she reaches the one tree with branches that reach out across the open air where the sun usually rises. She thinks she's safe until the earth at her feet begins to crumble at her, although small, weight and the loose earth takes her with and she slips falling into the torrential ocean.

Her impact on the rough seas from such a high fall is, to say the least, painful. She was always a great swimmer but her strength drains as soon as she's immersed fully in the sea water. Her arms still flail trying to fight the sea's pull but she tires out soon. The strong current doing what it will to her. It pulls her out of the cove and makes her submerged completely and she strains to hold her breath. Then it pushes her back in at high speeds only to slam her into the cliff face, the jagged rocks leave numerous cuts and gashes on her body.

The water guides her up as it pulls out once more and she gets one breath of air before being taken under. The process continues, for who knows how long. Serina is completely at the mercy of the sea, but a small voice resounds in her head which starts up another argument, _you deserve this._

_I didn't do anything to deserve this._

_Oh yeah,_ the hushed voice whispers, _no body can help, not even me now. It's all your fault too._

_How is it my fault?_

_If you didn't have to go into town to see someone who obviously doesn't particularly want you around then we would never have been in this predicament._

_Agnes is a friend, she wants me around..._

_No, if she wanted you around or even wanted you as a friend she wouldn't have let such a good friend out into a bad storm to go be alone in a cold and damp cave._

_She just forgot!_

_Keep telling yourself that, it won't help our current situation._

_Hey! You brought it up in the first place! Why are you even here? Who are you anyways? I hope you're not like another personality in me, that's just too creepy to think about..._

_I'm not fucking a personality of yours, I'm the spirit of the wolf you dimwit. That damn fruit you ate, yeah well part of the package is me!_

_Don't fucking call me names, teme. How am I supposed to know what kind of devil fruit that was, because I'm pretty sure it's a devil fruit now..._

_You get mwah! I initially do come from you though, I am what you will become if you just accept me as a part of you, imagine it... Together we can tear this world to shreds if we wanted HaHAHA!_The voice continues to cackle maniacally for a few more minutes... _Ah shit, I'm tired. Damn sea!_

_... What kind of power would I have if me and you joined?_

_Somebody's starting to sound interested... I can't tell you fully because I barely know myself, the fun thing about devil fruits is you find your power through trial and error. I would assume with the whole wolf behavior you would have some wolf powers?_

_No Der. Fine let's me and you join, but I'm in charge! Give me your power, I have an idea._

_Alright sure, whatever._

Serina comes to terms with her animal side, the waves pull her beaten and torn body back out and push her back, using the momentum she raises her arms with palms out and her claws extended. The ocean's force wedges her into the wall and her claws clamp down onto the cliffside both on her hands and her feet, her eyesight in the dark is instantly brighter but she feels weak from the sea's effect but she holds out and the waves try to suck her back with them but she has a firm grip.

Finally she can breathe as the waves have pulled out and she regains some of her strength and climbs up out of the sea's reach, the rain no longer beats her down. Serina pants and when she reaches an outcrop of rocks she collapses with her blood staining the rock deep red. Her claws recede and her vision clouds until she finally blacks out.

Her dreams consist of pure nothingness, she realizes fully that she's on her own despite her acquaintance, Agnes.

When she wakes up she sees that her blood is being washed away slowly by some light rain. She's still to tired to get up though and tend to her wounds. She doesn't really care she just wants sleep...

Next time she wakes up, she arises to find her cuts have actually stopped bleeding, she does feel very lightheaded though. She gets up on shaky legs and climbs up the rest of the way and starts limping to her cave where she applies some bandages and medicines. Then she rests some more.

* * *

Two weeks pass with Agnes growing more and more worried, she hasn't heard or seen anything of Serina. Agnes continues pacing while dealing with her office, she has to think clearly. _I hope she wasn't just pretending she was fine after what Lyra-baka said. Then there was that horrendous hurricane. Usually she comes at most thrice a week... Maybe I should search her out in the forest._

A clear knock resounds at Agnes' back door, she turns with a scowl wondering who it could be, Serina always knocks twice. Agnes throws open the door with a snarl, but her features soften when she sees Serina standing in her doorway. Serina stands tall in her black shorts and white tank top showing off a new scar on her right shoulder.

The light in Serina's eyes has dimmed and features more hardened, Agnes own features harden to match hers before she begins, "Where have you been?"

A yellowish tint flashes through Serina's iris that Agnes just barely catches, "I was caught up in something. After that storm I had a lot to take care of." Agnes stands back and gestures for Serina to enter.

Once inside they fall back into their usual routine, the only difference is the rift between them. Agnes wonders, _where the hell did she get that scar!? _Serina now has multiple white scars, the little wounds healed alright, but the big wounds left their mark, literally. Long and jagged scars run down Serina's sides and down her stomach, on her back she has multiple scars she received when slamming into the cliff side with her back. Her right shoulder scar was the largest of any of the cuts on her appendages. Of course she still has smaller scars from where the boys hit her with the rocks as well.

She grew fond of her scars. They proved that all those events really took place and reminded her about the people in this world and how she could never depend on anyone.

Agnes took note of Serina's different demeanor and even during their next training session she felt slightly more overpowered by Serina, like she had had a huge power-up. She thought it strange and she didn't even see Serina's irises change color at all.

After training one day and beating Agnes, again, with the Bokken, Serina glanced at the katana Yin and Yang and continued to stare at them for a moment before officially deciding, _I think I'm ready. _Agnes saw where Serina was looking and nodded once to herself, Serina is indeed ready.

* * *

Not too many days later Serina returns and Agnes begins instructing her with the two precious katana. Agnes frowns at Serina's easy skill in learning to wield the two deadly weapons. _She will probably surpass me in no time._ They train long into the night when Serina gains an odd feeling. Something is amiss in the town.

Twenty pairs of feet walk through the quiet town and Serina can sense an incoming threat. Agnes raises a brow in confusion at Serina's expression and why she has suddenly frozen. Then to her amazement Serina's irises glow yellow in the dimly lit basement. _She's using her devil fruit power!?_ Serina's piercing gaze locks onto Agnes and a silent understanding is met, they both head up and go through the pharmacy and out into the town center.

They see ten men all wearing the sailor uniforms and most wear a cap with the word "Marine" on top. Immediately, Serina's eyes narrow and Agnes follows her lead, Agnes' own eyes hone in on the navy official in charge, on mere instinct she knows this small group is sent only to scout, not meant to be seen, which is why they come in the dead of night and tread lightly.

The marines spot the girl and aged woman watching from the pharmacy's front. It doesn't strike them odd that the younger has brown hair because their superiors did not inform them of why they had to scout out the town in the first place.

Serina alighted down the steps with quiet ease her hands raised up and balled into fists. Agnes took yin and yang from her before they passed the pharmacy door. Serina senses Agnes get into battle stance as well. Now Serina knows why she can see so well at night, her glowing yellow wolf eyes give her perfect prey-stalking sight at night. The Marines take notice of their battle stances but they know not how to react, to them Serina and Agnes were mere civilians, oh, how wrong they are.

As if in sync, Serina runs up to the nearest Marine delivering a decisive punch to the gut with enough force to make him crumple with blood trickling down his chin. From the Marines' perspective one minute Serina was a few feet away the next she had her fist in their comrade's stomach.

So the fight begins, Serina easily holds her own with a few close calls but her agility and flexibility aide in her maneuvering away from finishing cuts or blows, the officers don't use their guns because if they did they would have a whole town of skilled fighters against them, but they don't know that.

In the moment all Serina knows is action; fight, punch, dodge, jab, slice, jump, kick. So she doesn't realize, until too late, that Agnes has lost a lot of her agility over the years and isn't suited for real combat anymore. This leads to Agnes' getting multiple cuts and right before Serina can step in to help, her only friend Agnes is stabbed right near her heart and she slowly crumples to the ground with grace. Something snaps in Serina and she finishes all her enemies with ease.

It looks a little something like this: Serina already reached Agnes' side as she goes down to her knees and falls on her back and with shadows covering Serina's eyes she steps forward, _six enemies left._ The closest Marine tries to stab her too, but she sidesteps and with claws extended stabs the man, but the force in her lunge is so powerful he's sent back with his blood trailing after him and he flies into two of the other Marines losing his blood. The three others decide to attack together and come at Serina from three sides; left, right, and back. She easily jumps and gracefully kicks both side men in their faces while doing perfect splits in the air. She angles away from the third man's jab with his sword and lands swiftly on the ground to knee him in his abdomen. When she retracts her knee, the last two man are running towards her with a battle cry. She smirks before picking up two of the marines' blades and with a spinning motion fucks these men up. She appears behind them with both blades raised and to the side. Both men momentarily wonder what happened before cuts and gashes spill blood and they fall to the ground, dead.

With the fight over, she forces her gaze on the barely alive Agnes, her dearest friend. Upon Serina's arrival at her side Agnes smiles despite the blood below her bottom lip coating her skin red. Her white teeth contrasts to the dark color and Serina kneels by her, grasping her hand. Agnes asks, "They all taken care of?" Serina can only nod because otherwise her voice will fail her. Agnes continues smiling and her face wrinkles at the expression, "Ne, Serina-chan, it seems I won't be around anymore to train you... I'm... so sorry," Agnes' eyes start to fill with tears despite her smile, "So sorry that I couldn't protect you. You will have to fight and fight and in the end I could do nothing to ease your burden. But... please... don't give up on the world just yet... Good things will come."

Serina only watches with an impassive face as her friend starts to slip away and Agnes eyes betray her by filling with tears, because she can't see Serina's expression, but if she did, she would feel touched. Touched that the light has yet to fade from Serina's eyes and it's only when Agnes dies choking on her own blood that the light goes out completely to be left with a blank stare.

Serina lets go of her friend's hand and places it on her chest before gripping yin and yang and she turns to the fallen soldiers. She immediately decides...

* * *

She leaves a note to the townspeople trapped to the ground in the middle of her carnage that reads:

_Give Agnes a proper burial for me._

_I'll take care of the rest._

_-Uchiha D. Serina_

* * *

True to her word, Serina does take care of the rest she materializes on the ledge of the ship that the Marines docked at the shore. She notes the Captain when he steps forward after people realize there's a girl, with two katana on her back, with a small pack as well, crouched on the railing of their ship. The Captain begins, "What are you doing all by yourself, little girl?"

Said girl smirks,"I took care of your little scouting team, next time you should send at least a hundred, they were easy pickings."

At her words, the Marines reach for their weapons but the Captain only smiles, "I don't believe a little girl can kill ten men."

Serina nods, "I bet they thought that too... Before I killed them."

The Captain starts to frown, "Listen kid why are you even telling us all this. Most people would've run away instead of running to people who can arrest them."

Serina smiles an empty smile, "Listen bub, let's just cut to the chase then, I want you to get on the den den mushi with you superiors who sent you on this mission and it's probably going to take a while because you guys don't really strike me as all that important. So you're going to do that and carry my message on, 'Do not keep an Uchiha waiting,' you got that, it should be enough, just make sure it gets up there or somebody's going to get fired! We should start heading to HQ right now anyways."

All their jaws have dropped to the floor, Serina smirks. The Captain starts to speak, "Who the-"

Serina cuts him off, "Wait and see, just do as I say."

The burly man throws her a frown before she motions for him to get to it. The Marines continue to raise their weapons although now they are somewhat lower. Serina's guard never drops, even though she is perceived as being nonchalant, a constant smirk graces her face.

* * *

The men and young girl set sail with Serina favoring the railing and walking it, she sits at the front with her legs draped over the side while the sun rises, she doesn't show how tired she is from lack of sleep or how nervous, her face continues to be impassive and the men of the ship keep throwing her furtive glances. They think she doesn't notice them staring, but she only ignores and continues watching the waves the Navy ship creates in its wake and watching the sun leave the horizon to her left, _so we're heading north?_

She notices the man, she previously thought Captain who now she knows as a Chief Petty Officer named Koichi, coming up to her at the front of the ship . He has brown hair hidden by his cap and also black eyes, dull eyes. Serina only frowns at his dull eyes, eyes like her brown ones, where in her village everyone would have a different shade or shape. When she turns to him after he comes up, she smiles dryly at his look of puzzlement. He hands her a den den mushi which she takes and a voice asks, "Who am I speaking with."

Serina responds emptily, "Who do you think, you did get my message right? I'm an Uchiha, the one who killed the ten Marines who invaded my town on Baterilla. What more information do you want?"

The den den mushi frowns before, "What color is your hair?"

Serina smirks knowing her facial expression would be conveyed to the person on the other line, "Brown."

There is silence before the den den mushi says, "Why are you getting in touch with us?"

"I have a proposition for your Gorosei that I think they will find most enticing but I will only discuss it with them."

The den den mushi motions like a nod before speaking out, "Chief Petty Officer Koichi bring this young lady to HQ and make sure you treat her as a guest." Koichi salutes with a "Hai!" Then the line is cut and Serina's smirk drops into a straight line of deep thought before Koichi pulls her from her thoughts and motions for her to follow, "I'll show you to your room then Miss...?" Serina smirks, "Just call me Pet for now."

* * *

The trip surprisingly doesn't take too long with the ship being able to pass over the Calm Belt. Serina spends most of her time either in her room or out on the deck watching the sea and sky and seeing various new animals, she doesn't show her surprise when giant Sea Kings erupt from the water from time to time, but inside her heart beats fast in excitement.

She doesn't speak to anyone on the boat and they know not to initiate a conversation with her either. She always carries her katana with her, constantly strapped to her back.

When they finally do have the massive HQ in their sights, Serina's eyes narrow in trepidation and suspicion. She walks with confidence, however, when she is lead through the halls and buildings and climbs staircases to the top where the Gorosei reside. She enters and finds a bunch of scarred men with wrinkles just beginning to form on their faces and white to grey hair. They are just past their prime Serina notes, and she knows if she were to engage in a fight, she would not win, but her resolve burns through and her face only depicts stoicism.

One of them, a bald man holding a long katana speaks first, "Why are you here little Uchiha, why should we not just kill you now?"

Serina responds with her voice unwavering, "Truth be told, I only come to ask you to let me serve you in place of leaving my people in the shadows and away from your harm. I think I can be a valuable asset doing your dirty work, the past is in the past, the Uchiha only want to live peacefully."

Next a man with greying blonde hair speaks, "An asset? Those katana on your back prove your words wrong, you are not living peacefully with weapons in the town."

"We keep the weapons because we still are not safe from the perdition of your government, if the needs arises my people will protect themselves. I ask that in exchange for my service you let them live in the little town, I'm not saying they will spread the word of our people or the Void Century if you let them live as we have been, but if you do not accept my offer then they will spread the word and I doubt you want that." The threat in her voice is plain and clear.

The men continue their serious faces, while Serina stands tall never faltering from their stares. Finally one with an odd handlebar mustache asks, "How old are you? Did they send you?"

"Six and no they did not send me."

The men nod in understanding before one with a scar going down his face says, "Very well, we will discuss this matter in private, you will be escorted to your room."

Serina bows before leaving with a woman that has black hair whom escorts her to her room. She's alone, _Finally! _The tension of the room slides off her and she relaxes sitting on a chair and wondering when she'll get an answer.

Not more than five hours later does a knock at her door releases her from the silence and she voices an "Enter." The same woman from before enters with a uniform and tells her that tomorrow one of the HQ Captains will be by to show her around and later gauge where she stands on rank. Serina nods once in understanding before the woman leaves.

* * *

Serina does get an overview of the HQ layout and meets some people, before the Captain finally tests her combat ability and finds her able to take on high ranking officials. It's during this little fight that he finds out she has a Devil Fruit ability that she does not know the name of. With this information in hand the Gorosei start sending her on missions, mostly intelligence, sometimes she must take out pirates, other times she has to scope out corruptness in the system of the Navy. She always performs the job perfectly and she cannot speak a word about it to anyone which she has no problems with.

They rarely send her in battle, but every once in a while she does enter the battle field. The first time she experiences battle firsthand she is ranked as a Commander and she is age ten. The men under her command, to say the least, question her authority. She proves to them, however, that she is a force to be reckoned with in combat.

She saves many of her men's lives spinning with yin and yang glinting as one. She slices and dices her enemy and materializes in one place, then another so that she's only a series of images, until she stops and feints once before standing tall with her yellow eyes piercing and all the men she cut momentarily stop before the blood starts gushing from their wounds and she smirks.

The men she saved only gape in awe at her speed and agility. On the return trip, while Serina cleans her beloved katana, some men enter her bubble before one clears his throat, "Commander Pet we just wanted to say..." All at once they start praising her abilities and how they are so happy to have her as their Commander.

_They all call me Pet._

_Ironic Isn't it?_

_Yeah, but I chose it. Not like I could use my name anyways, the Gorosei don't want people to know who I am exactly so an alias is necessary. I kind of like being called Pet anyways._

_Makes you feel all fluffy and cuddly, well you're not, you're a devious and deadly wolf. Not some house pet._

Serina gives a shrug and a smile as her subordinates go on about her speed. She's praised highly that night at dinner but she doesn't feel happy, just a calm acceptance. She pities the pirates she has to exterminate and always wonders if she would be doing the same if she were a pirate herself. Would she feel the need to take out the lesser pirates or just let them be? A difficult question for her to ask, yet, she can only wonder what her life would be like if she could've followed her dream to be a pirate roaming the seas, to be free from the shackles of public servitude. Well more like Noble Servitude considering she really doesn't work for the common good. The rich will always have a say in how things are done, but she's just glad she only has to take orders from the Gorosei.

After her little victory on the battlefield and her preserving the many enlisted men of the Navy, the Gorosei start to trust her with the deeper stuff. She never gave them a reason to distrust her, but it was only when she could have let her men perish with her the only survivor that they decided she truly had earned their trust. They promoted her to a Captain rank and she was given her own ship to command with her own subordinates and they still sent her to capture/eliminate threats such as pirates and on some cases she even had to fight Revolutionaries.

From Pet's perspective, however, she had a strong distaste for hunting Revolutionaries because... well... She agrees with their cause, she knows, better than anyone, why the World Government should be taken down. She knows the full history and she hates bowing down to these mutts (A/N: Keep in mind that she's a wolf... pretty much... so putting her on the scale of who's better, the wolf out ranks the dog any day and she even refers to them as mutts... That is all, continue.)

Only some people actually hit it off with her. When she turned sixteen she actually had a friend named Bellemere. Bellemere had a very strong personality and loud laugh with an interesting pink hair-do that suited her very well. She was enlisted under Pet before disappearing with only Pet being able to track her, after all, Pet was the one who sent her people to their deaths.

Pet knew not that her men couldn't handle the mission otherwise she would have come herself but she assumed their were some unforeseen circumstances so she wanted to know what she could've done. Upon arriving at the decimated town and eyeing the carnage, she and her men get to work dealing with giving her dead underlings proper burials. When she notices Bellemere is among the missing, she frowns in thought. "Captain, something wrong?"

She responds in a definitive tone, "No." Pet searches the surrounding area and catches Bellemere's cigarette and orange smell. Her nose wrinkles at the smell, she absolutely despises the cigarette smoke but she puts up with it for her friend. Bellemere was her second in command based on rank but she also was a close friend and told her about her hometown and island in the East Blue.

She follows the scent to the water and notices it mingles with two others. Her brow furrows in puzzlement. Her men take care of business before setting sail once more and Serina personally heads to Cocoyashi Village to speak with those who knew her.

Pet enters the town solo and picks up Bellemere's fresh scent which is odd considering the storm would have washed away any and all traces of her. Pet follows the trail with her Captain's coat billowing behind her, like a cape. It drapes over her shoulders and it stops when she nears a doctor's house. She enters and, to her amazement, encounters Bellemere in many bandages smiling and hugging two young girls one with orange-ish hair and the other with a brilliant blue. Pet smiles subconsciously at the sight before Bellemere catches sight of her. "Captain Pet! What are you doing here?"

Pet strides in, "I was coming to speak to the villagers about you. I knew you weren't dead and I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Bellemere smiles wide, "I'm never better, look I have two beautiful daughters now!"

A light shines in Pet's eyes, "I'm happy for you, I'll take care of everything regarding the adoption and you are officially relieved of duty." Pet pats the children on the heads and smiles wolfishly at the youngest making her giggle. Pet only asks one last question, "What are their names?"

"Nami is this little bundle and this is Nojiko," Bellemere motions to the blue haired young girl. Pet smiles once more before starting to leave.

Before she's out the door she states, "Bellemere, you ever need anything, don't hesitate to give me a call," Then she's gone and out into the bright day and she smiles at her friend's luck. She and her men set sail once again.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Thanks ya'll for reading, again more characters you know will be included next chapter. Hope you enjoyed. Now Review, Favorite, Follow. Until next time ;)


	5. Making Frenemies?

**Author's Note: **Hey, so I'm posting a bit early just because I was in the zone and really wanted to get to Luffy and Garp which unfortunately I didn't. I was going to make this chapter like extremely long, longer than last chapter which was so far the longest but then I reached a good point to post this chapter so I'm just going to do it this way. Okay enough of that nonsense:

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is already owned by others.

Characters you probably know of or have heard of that will be in this Chapter: **Donquixote Doflamingo, Trafalgar Law, Donquixote Rosinante(Corazon). **Btw it was super lucky that the latest chapter for One Piece gave all the back story to Law. So that's kind of a spoiler I guess?

Then I should probably add this, **Spoiler Alert: **If you haven't read the latest chapter of One Piece this Chapter references some of that information such as... stuff... regarding Law and his backstory with Corazon. Just a warning, just in case.

**Warning: **Loads of blood and some mentioning of gore and torture.

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 4

Pet yawned in her quarters, seated at her desk. She had just finished the last page of a monster pile of paperwork and boy was she tired! As luck would have it, though, this eighteen year old Commodore would have to engage in 'battle' with a pirate ship she didn't even know was tailing her warship. With her super hearing and sixth sense she knows something is amiss outside.

A stretch and another yawn later, she dons her white Commodore coat with blue jeans under and a white tank top with a black bandanna tied around her neck like a ribbon. She strides out her room and maneuvers through the halls and out to the deck to see a familiar pirate jolly roger, a smiley face with a line through it. Her eyes narrow immediately, _Not him again._

The Donquixote pirates were always getting on Pet's nerves mostly because Doflamingo really wanted Pet to join his crew. Pet would only growl deeply in response, she was ordered to kill Doflamingo, but he kept making things extremely difficult. It was only when Doflamingo started negotiating with the higher ups that Pet's order to kill was revoked and she no longer had the luxury of trying to tear Doffy limb from limb. _What a waste._

Pet leans up against the railing of her ship as the Donquixote pirates gather at their railing facing her. Doffy stands upright as the tallest among his crew and Pet merely frowned at him, while he smiled deviously at her. From Pet's information, this pirate crew rarely changes location, when it comes to moving from island to island.

Doffy continues to smile, "Ah Pet-chan, what a pleasant surprise."

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," Pet responds stoically. She earns some chuckles from her subordinates.

Doffy's smile falters a little, but it's still there, "We should catch up. Are you going to try to kill me again?"

"I'm considering it, and no we shouldn't 'catch up' there's nothing to catch up on. We, as in me and my crew, will now be heading in the opposite direction considering I get the strange urge to throttle people when you're around." Pet remains impassive, which gives her words all the more seriousness.

Doffy continues smiling with his arms crossed, "Oh come on, Pet-chan, you know you want to."

Pet merely turns away from him and nods to her subordinates to get a move on, her own arms are crossed, "The only reason I'm not trying to kill you now is because my orders have changed, but no one ever said I'd have to talk to you or spend any amount of time in the same vicinity as you. And if you continue to haggle me I will take it as a threat and will deal with it accordingly." Pet stands and moves to go back, but can't, she sighs very audibly, _I'm going to tear him limb from limb. _A very deep and low growl erupts from her throat and her eyes begin to glow, it's almost as if a demon is speaking when she menaces, "_Let Go Now._"

Surprisingly enough he gets the message and drops his thread, even though Pet has a sure fire method of escaping his entrapments now, although on Doffy's part the polite thing to do would be to drop his devil fruit powers. Pet consents and grabs her board, as in a motored glider/surfboard that her brothers made for her when she last saw them. (A/N: Think of Ace's, it's kind of like that, only she doesn't have his firepower to make it go.)

* * *

A Year Ago

There she was, seventeen year old Pet minding her own business when bam! Nothing happened. She was bored out of her wits, when her 'best pal' Doffy decided to give her a call, "Hello?"

"Pet-chan, Let's talk."

"How the fuck did you get this number! Oh, I'm so going to murder you one of these days!"

"Now now, Pet, I just want you to join my crew! I even went so far as to hire a very skilled group of people to take charge of your little hometown so that you now have a reason to abandon your silly little Marine life."

At the mention of her family and their being in danger, a rock forms in the pit of her stomach. The rock melts at the boiling of her anger, which now is as hot as lava.

In her quarters, the air shifts and an almost demonic aura surrounds Pet as she responds with a voice that cuts, "I will talk to you later Doflamingo." And with that she ends the call and goes out and tells her Navigator that their course has changed.

When they enter the port of a bustling city on Baterilla, it is four days past her talk with Doffy. She tells her men that they are officially taking a break for a few days and she doesn't want to see them. The men are happy they get to be off duty and Pet has her own troubles to deal with. She treks through the forest in her full beast form. A massive wolf with black fur and yellow eyes, on her right shoulder she has a white streak where her scar would be on her human body.

She follows the ocean deciding to enter the town from the beach entrance. Her muscles ripple and her pelt is sleek as she runs, she disturbs nothing, no sound is induced from her steps. Her claws hug the earth keeping her in perfect balance. Her ears are forward listening and her breath is hot. An animal or tree may cross her path but she easily jumps over, the only way an animal would know she passed is an imperceptible shift of the air.

When she dips out to run on the sand, she slows to walk when she recognizes the small pathway to the town. She shifts back and enters the town, she hangs her Marine coat on a branch before. Her eyes take in every familiar detail and all the unfamiliar details, such as some men seemingly standing guard in the clearing between shops.

"I'm... I'm sorry mister..."

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it brat!" A man with a very unkempt katana threatens a young raven-haired girl. Pet's brows furrows, _If these guys are so skilled then why don't they care for their weapons properly?_

"Maybe a little reminder would teach you to stop being so clumsy... You know what," the man smiles evilly, "I think this whole town needs a reminder why we're in charge." He moves toward the girl with his blade raised, her mother, who previously was standing by hoping for the best, when she sees the man's evil glint in his eye, cries out, "Not the child!" She rushes forth, but the leader's groupies surround her smiling wide.

_Well, might as well get this party started._

Pet sees her new-found enemy start to swing his blade down on the small child, deciding she doesn't need her katana Pet lands a kick straight to the guy's face and he goes flying from the force. Pet lands agilely with her back to the child. Now the swords are trained on her, "Who are you!?" "Where'd you come from?!"

Pet merely smirks, "You don't need to know who I am, just know that I'm here to kick your sorry arses."

"Hey, we have the famous Donquixote Doflamingo backing us! Bet you're too terrified to even move now!" One of them shouts these words and a vein throbs on Pet's forehead.

Pet all but growls, "He's the one who sent me."

Silence ensues and Pet's smirk reappears with a fanged smile, she notices a shift in the kid she now faces. She looks down and sees gold eyes twinkling up at her, _Lucky! Why does she get gold!?_

_You do realize you have eyes that glow right?_

_Only when I use my power though, plus she has gold! No fair!_

Pet's expression never changes as she regards the child with no feeling, said child smiles up at her with white teeth, "Thank you Miss."

Pet smiles, a little, in return and grabs her and jumps holding the little lady with one arm. Where they both previously stood has now been stabbed with three swords. Pet jumps over to the mother and places the girl down, a feeling of Deja vu overtakes Pet momentarily at the sight of the mother. Pet turns her back to them and orders, "Go home. Don't come out until tomorrow, I'll take care of these chumps."

The mother grabs her child, going to do what Pet commanded, but before she walks away, "Is your name Serina? Are you her?" Pet doesn't answer and when the men decide to attack all at once Pet merely growls a "Go" before engaging in combat. She's swift in dealing finishing blows, not wanting any to tell of the town hidden in the woods. After she's finished she starts walking where the more skilled people should be, they merely sent their grunts out to keep an eye on the town.

So it comes as a surprise for Pet to walk into their camp, near the edge of town. They respond by grabbing their weapons and charging.

Pet easily deals with the lesser fighters, before she moves up to the more skilled.

Some deal her a few nice cuts, but nothing too deep, she doesn't tire from them. Pet regards them all with a calm passivity. Her aura seeps into the men's pores tearing down their confidence from the inside. Finally, after the last fodder is cut down, she faces the last three. These men actually seem quite skilled and regard her as she regards them, with an uncaring facade and firm confidence. The leader with his own raven hair and light eyes hangs back while his two other lackeys or partners, whatever they may be, step forward with swords drawn.

Pet's eyes dissect them and she has no issues anticipating their moves, it's only when she sees them both eat something that her skin prickles. They get fast, faster than what Pet originally thought them capable of. With a bound she's in the air, since where she previously was just got sliced and she didn't have to notice its origin. In the air, she's vulnerable and a sharp slice cuts her side. The force sends her to the ground, but she sticks the landing with only a slight falter. Blood pours from her wound and her eyes glow as she tries to catch sight of these two cats. In this game, she's the mouse... for now.

Pet angles backward and she catches sight of one of the men and, once she has him, she wastes no time in tracking his movements and runs to land a downward kick on his receding form. A clean blow to the back of his head, via her foot, makes a giant crater in the ground. Blood from his body flies up into the air staining nearby scenery. Pet grins maniacally, _Blood._ With one man down and out for the count, she then registers multiple cuts being dealt to her in rapid succession, but in her frenzy she lost some ounce of control and transformed to her man-beast form, a towering werewolf-like creature with an elongated muzzle and sharp fangs.

With a loud grunt at her own blood painting the landscape, she waves her muscled furry arm and bats a passing-by swordsmen. He flies yards away taking trees with him at her massive display of strength. He isn't dead though, and crawls trying to stand on his own two legs. Pet starts for him before she gets stabbed by the presumed leader. _So he's finally deciding to join the fun, huh?_ He stabbed her through her abdomen while her back was turned, _what a coward._ Pet twists and grabs hold of his head with her clawed hands and throws him, she then reaches back and pulls out the sword now covered in her blood. She tosses it to the man and starts heading towards his last lackey who finally faces the tree he landed on, draped somewhat on it, he leans heavily as though the air is being kept from him. Pet smirks and her long stringy tail swishes behind her, she pulls one arm up with claws ready and swings down hard. The slices cut through the air and gravely injures the man, a gasp is heard from him and he falls dead with his own liquid life escaping him and returning to the earth.

_One more to go._

The leader looks pissed, "How dare you! How dare you kill my men! And so nonchalantly as if killing insects!"

Pet's now gravelly voice responds crisply, "To me, they are insects."

The man's entire visage shakes in rage, "Who are you!?"

Pet smiles, "'Demon Wolf' Pet is what my enemies call me."

His shaking form freezes now in fear. Doflamingo didn't give him much information when he took the job, just that it was so a certain Commodore by the name of Pet would be more accepting of his propositions. Pet's wolf smile meets him now, she knows what he has just realized. _How entertaining._

She continues, "I'm a bit bored and considering how you invaded my home I think I owe you..."

"Owe me what?" He doesn't like the sound of this.

* * *

A hour and a half later a voice comes through on the man's den den mushi, "Fufufu how is the situation there, Ijiwaru?"

Pet smiles, "Things here are a little messy." The snail frowns and Pet's smile widens.

"Why are you there, Pet-chan?"

"You outright challenged me, I'll be damned if I wasn't going to accept it and show you whom you're messing with."

"I specifically ordered them not to hurt the people, not unless ordered to..."

Pet's brow twitches, "Like I give a fuck, they're my people and your lackeys were going to injure someone and they would've too if I hadn't shown up."

The snail phone sighs, "So what did you do with Ijiwaru?"

"I killed him slowly and when the dimwit finally got it in his head that he had a den den mushi, he called you and I put him down." At her feet, true to her words, is the lifeless and bloody form of Ijiwaru, with an expression of pure pain on his face. One of his legs is missing and some of his fingers. He has long claw marks coating his body.

The snail shows Doffy's complete frown now, "So... You gonna join my crew or what?"

A volcano erupts, "Listen here you dodo bird, family is off limits, if you ever send anyone or tell anyone about my family, I will personally hunt every single crewmember of yours and I will torture and kill each and every one. Do not test me, Doflamingo, I will make you regret it." Then Pet's angry visage hangs up.

Next, she extends her wolf senses scouring the entire area surrounding the village making sure she didn't miss any one. After she finishes and content with the results, she walks back to her Marine coat.

It's only after another half hour, when she finally reached the coat and donned it that she realized, _I'm really tired._ Her feet drag and her vision blurs when she leaves the forest entrance, after going around the town to avoid any one still out. She kicks up sand when she reaches the beach not even having a destination in mind just on autopilot. She officially crashes from loss of blood and pure drowsiness.

She fades in and out of consciousness, in her dreams she imagines people whispering above her and a little girl with golden eyes.

Then she comes back fully and sees wood ceiling above her and soft bed around her. She arises and a window to her right tells her it's early in the day. Pet doesn't recognize the small home and walks down some stairs heading toward the sounds of cooking. She reaches the kitchen and leans in the doorway as her eyes take in the image of the mother cooking and the little girl sitting at the table, her golden eyes beautiful in the sunlight.

"How long have I been out?" Pet rasps, she didn't realize her voice would be so raspy.

"Just a day," the mother calmly replies.

The child smiles wide, but remains silent. Pet starts feeling uncomfortable, "Whelp I should be going then." She starts heading for where she believes is an exit when, "Wait! At least let us give you some breakfast. You rid this town of those horrible tyrants."

Pet frowns, "I may as well have sent them in the first place, you don't need to thank me. You wouldn't want to if you knew me anyways."

"I know who you are, you're Masahiro and Sakura's daughter."

"Oh? Good for you, I don't really care if you know who I am-"

"Ah ha! So you are Serina!"

Pet's frown deepens, "I thought we already covered that?"

"I'm Amaya by the way, I don't think we ever met formally."

"Wasn't my fault," Pet scowls. Pet feels another presence enter the kitchen from outside, her eyes glance over the form, but she stares when she notices some light green eyes with diamond shaped pupils. Pet's back straightens and her eyes narrow with her mouth forming a straight line, "Katashi," she says, her voice steady and clear.

He smiles, _don't think he's ever done that to me,_ "Pet, you're awake," he greets.

Pet merely nods in agreement, as she is indeed awake. _Thank you, Captain Obvious._

Amaya greets her husband, and he likewise, before, "She was just trying to leave." Pet snaps from her dark thoughts, _she's selling me out!_

Katashi frowns, "Oh come on sis, stay for a while longer. Let's catch up."

Suspicion colors Pet's face, "No, I'm out of here." She starts walking before a bought of dizziness overcomes her, _damnit! Why now!_ She leans on the wall for support and notices strong arms steadying her, she pushes them away, "Don't treat me like you care. You've never cared _**brother**,_" she sneers the last word.

When she looks up at Katashi's face, however, he only conveys a calm acceptance, "We're not like that anymore, Hitoshi too. We just want to apologize, Father and Mother wanted to apologize directly to you... Before they... died."

The issue of her parent's death doesn't faze Pet in the slightest, "Oh?"

Katashi continues, "Mother passed a few years after you left the note, she thought you were dead. Father died shortly after Mother because he regretted everything that had happened with you."

Within, _I really don't care._ Outwardly,"Wow," Pet looks surprised, "I never knew they cared so much," she feigns a troubled expression.

"They both really regret what happened and wanted to make it up to you, but we never saw any word of you and then you show up out of nowhere and take out those fools."

_I'm really starting to regret that now..._

_Dude, I'm regretting it for you._

_I never came back so we could have some big reunion after._

_Tell them that._

_I don't want to be rude though._

_Well quit complaining then._

Pet just says, "You know I really should be getting back anyways"

"Serina."

Pet frowns and starts walking away, when Katashi calls again like she didn't hear him, "Serina?"

Pet keeps walking, "Hey" Katashi moves to grab her, arm but she moves it and snaps, "My name is Pet now. Serina is dead."

Katashi and Amaya's faces are ones of surprise, "Okay then, Pet, just hang out for a bit, you can leave later," Katashi compromises.

And so Pet had to spend a good ten hours spending time with her 'family' when she really considers herself an only child. It was on this day that she found out Katashi's daughter's name is... Serina. At that, Pet jerked in surprise and Amaya explained everyone wanted a second chance so they named the new chief's daughter Serina. Pet was actually pretty touched at that and a small drop of water may have slid down her cheek but she always screams, "It was a freak rain drop, okay!" She spent a lot of time in town, Amaya showed her around with all the different things and Pet carrying little Serina on her back. Later, the townspeople threw a party and it was then that Pet had a blast dancing and singing with her... family. She also got to meet Hitoshi's newborn baby girl.

She did end up spending one more night in town, but in the morning she donned her coat once more with Katashi looking on, "So you really did become a Marine."

"Yeah, I made a deal with them back when I left that I would be a loyal servant so long as..." Pet trails off. Katashi smiles reassuringly, "I get it Pet. And here I thought you would be a pirate." Pet shrugs in disappointment. Katashi and Hitoshi show her the wood-glider, surf board they made for her so she could travel the sea at a much faster rate and even lone wolf it, just the way, they both know, she likes. It has a nice compartment near the motor for small supplies and they say she'll never have to worry about energy or anything, they tell her it even floats so she can just hang out for a while if she gets tired. She absolutely loved it and threw her arms around her brothers in response, only to pull away slightly embarrassed and blushing. They didn't mind and only stood there grinning.

* * *

Pet, back on her Navy ship, carries her glider on a shoulder and is about to jump onto Doffy's ship before a subordinate calls out, "Commodore Pet, what are your orders?"

"Keep to the course, I'll catch up later," she hops onto the deck of Doffy's ship with him smiling as if he just won a million dollars_. What a creep_. His crew goes back to what they were doing and Pet passes Doffy heading straight for his brother, the better of the two in her opinion. She greets, "Hello Corazon. How are you this fine evening?"

He says nothing but goes to get a paper, she puts a hand on his arm stopping him from rummaging and smiles lightly, "You don't have to answer." She removes her arm and looks at the teen at his side, a short boy compared to her and the Donquixote brothers' height.

"Law," she greets. He merely nods with those silver eyes of his.

_Why does everyone have prettier eyes than me!_

_Because the universe just hates you._

_Does it really?_

_Probably._

_Bummer._

_Yeah._

When she turns back to Doffy she's about to speak, he cuts her off, "So let's welcome Pet, how about a party?" Pet shrugs in response, her coat feels heavy. She frowns and when they start with the celebration and the booze is out Pet goes to Doffy, her frown still in place, "Do you have some space where I can set my board down?" He nods in a direction and Pet just pushes it up against a wall and goes to sit on a railing to watch the pirates party and drink. Her arms are crossed and she is the picture of relaxation.

Doffy comes up to her with a bottle of liquor and from the smell, via her powerful wolf nose, she can tell it's the hard stuff. He waves it, "Come on, just one?"

Pet stands silently and takes off her coat, hangs it on a wall before turning around with a wicked smile, "Alright Doflamingo, I'm calling you out to a drinking contest." He smiles wide and nods in acceptance. They both go sit on some empty barrels and get to it. Pet laughs and drinks so much, the weight of oppression lifted from her shoulders.

Only when she has about twenty drinks in her and still going does she say, "Why don't you guys have a musician, what's the deal!? People need to dance at a party and there has to be singing!"

Doffy's smile is ever present and Pet looks at him, her eyes narrowing in speculation as she looks him up and down, "Hey, dance with me."

Doffy slurs a "sure." She grabs his extended hand and they both go to a clear space, she asks, "Hey can we get a beat over here?" The crew just laughs along, because everyone's so drunk, except Corazon and Law seem distant, but even in her fuzzy mind Pet is on guard.

A sorry excuse for a beat begins, but Pet finds her own and moves her hips to it, moving Doffy with her. Beauty encased in her movements, as she steps and dips allowing Doffy to support her and bring her back up. She guides him mostly and laughs at his bad dancing, like an odd flamingo. She wouldn't say it out loud but_, I'm actually having a lot of fun._

_Good._

_What's this? You're supporting me?_

_I'm not your enemy._

The beat gets faster and jollier and Doffy and her move around laughing and she twirls and as she's now separated from Doffy she motions to Corazon and Law to come over. Law immediately shakes his head, Corazon wears a tiny, barely noticeable, smile. She and Doffy part, talking and laughing and going back to drinking. Pet finally has had enough of the drinks, not because she can't go on, merely because she's tired of the god awful taste. So she slurs, "Okay Doffy, let's end this drinking contest once and for all. There are two barrels left," she points in the semi right direction, "whoever finishes their barrel first wins, kay?"

Doffy's eyes narrow at the barrel, but he nods in agreement. They both drag their barrels over, Pet pops the lid off hers, seeing her reflection in the sake. Doffy starts pouring a glass, but stops when Pet stands and with a deep breath lifts the barrel to her mouth and starts drinking. It goes on for a few minutes, during this time, Pet was breathing through her nose and she finally tips the whole barrel and finishes. Doffy and his crewmates stare in utter amazement. Pet sits and looks her around squinting, "Well I win." They all burst out laughing, even the more serious characters of Law, Corazon, Senor Pink, and Doffy.

Pet smiles, the alcohol gives her cheeks a vibrant red hue. Then people start going to their rooms and Pet shifts over to the railing of the ship looking out with a solemn face_. I really hate my job._

_I hate your job too._

_Aw thanks buddy._

Her dulled senses don't warn her of another presence coming towards her. A thud tells her, it's Corazon. With his head on the ground and turned upwards, he sees the world as if it's upside down. Pet walks over to him sits on her own head with her arms supporting her straight form, her legs straight in the air. They are face to face and she smiles then looks around, "Interesting view." Corazon stays silent. Only when he starts to get up does she right herself. She goes back to the railing with Corazon at her side, both seemingly looking out into the depths, the sun's rays are just starting to become visible.

"So, what did you want to discuss with me?" Pet asks.

Corazon frowns, Pet continues, "No one's around, they're all inside sleeping, well, except for a thirteen year old boy who seems to be nocturnal."

Corazon chuckles knowing exactly whom she's talking about. Corazon begins, "About Law-" Pet's brow furrows.

"What about Law?"

"Just thought a Marine might be able to help the situation."

Pet nods and leaves his side, he looks after her as she walks up to her coat and dons it like a cape, "So talk to me. What's wrong with Law's situation?"

She stands and Corazon leans back coolly, "I just need to know if you're willing to help me help him."

Pet remains stoic in weighing, carefully, these words, "I will help, you don't need to question if I'm willing or not, but I need to know what's going-"

"What's going on, what are you guys talking about," a young Law asks.

"Just talking about you, of course." Pet responds, eyes never leaving Corazon. Law frowns.

Corazon continues, "You wouldn't understand, Pet. Even if I told you."

Something flashes through Pet's eyes, be it anger or something else... "Do not assume things about me Corazon, I probably know more than you do," the challenge is evident in her tone and her eyes threaten him to meet it.

Corazon frowns, but concedes, "It's about Law's name-"

"Do not tell her, a Marine, about my name," Law's eyes narrow at me.

"A name, huh? I would like to know this name," her attention turns to Law, he avoids her intense gaze, she easily overpowers him when it comes to staring contests.

Law huffs, "I won't tell you. You're the enemy."

Pet frowns, "How about a trade, enemies can comprise sometimes right?"

Law looks interested, with his eyes going to meet hers, she smiles lightly, "How about I tell you my name? My **real **name?"

"What do you mean your real name? Pet is your name." Pet laughs and now even Corazon looks intrigued.

"Pet is a name I chose in place of my other name, because my name is a secret too."

"Really?" Law looks skeptical.

Pet nods, "Yes, I was even ordered by the top officials at Marine Headquarters to never tell anyone about it. But I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

Corazon cuts in, "The top officials?"

"Gorosei" Pet responds simply, Corazon looks almost taken aback, but he's cool about it.

"Is your name really that big a deal?" Law asks, a frown graces his features.

Pet nods solemnly, "It actually is, but I'll only tell you, if we have a deal."

Law thinks it over momentarily before nodding and Pet walks toward him and extends her hand for a shake on it. Law complies and they shake hands, after, Pet walks over to the railing and hops up sitting with her back to the ocean facing the two people on the ship, who look at her expectantly, "My name is Uchiha D. Serina."

Corazon's brow furrows_, another D, huh_, he thinks.

Law responds, "Trafalgar D. Water Law."

Pet smiles, "It's a nice name." Law blushes slightly looking away. Pet turns back to Corazon, "Let me guess, Doffy's got something against the D's."

Now Corazon is seriously surprised, "How-"

Pet waves her hand, "You wouldn't know about it Cora, the reason why my full name is a secret. It was lost during the Void Century." Shock colors Corazon's face, "I know everything that happened during that time, in vivid detail, but I'm not gonna get into that. What would you like me to do for Law?"

Corazon snaps from his shock, although he barely showed any in the first place and responds, "Take him somewhere safe."

"When?"

"I don't want to go," Law says silently, but both adults catch, Pet pats Law on the head/hat reassuringly, "No worries, things'll work out."

Law's face remains sullen and Pet sympathizes with the boy, she knows he's not worried about the other crew members, just Corazon. Pet reassures, "Well, we're not leaving right this instance anyways, probably not-" Pet stops when she hears someone coming. She puts a finger to her lips signaling for the boys to be quiet. Doffy comes out and before he notices the other people, Pet notes how shaken he looks, before his calm facade is back in place at the presence of others.

His creepy smile back in place, _Is his face just molded that way or are his face muscles super rock hard from constantly maintaining that look?_

He asks, "What's going on out here with you three?"

Pet answers calmly, "I was just about to leave, but you're subordinate," she nods toward Law, "told me I should wait till you were up to say goodbye."

Doffy nods and flashes Law a smile of approval, "Ah, yes you shouldn't just leave without giving your host a thanks at least."

Pet's brow twitches, "Oh, is that so? What if, where I come from, our throttling a person is our way of saying thank you? Would you still like me to thank you?"

Doffy's brow rises at the hostility. "I didn't even want to be here," Pet grumbles. She goes to pick up her glider on the opposite side of the ship in a corner. Pet picks it up carefully and goes over to the side in the direction she knows her men were heading.

"Did you even sleep?" Doffy asks curiously.

"Nope." She now stands on the railing getting ready to jump onto the ocean with her board. She's about to go, when all of a sudden the familiar sense of trap springs up and she shifts quickly. Landing back on the deck away, from where the string would have caught her, she turns her glare to the man responsible. Doffy is surprised she sensed it coming, "What the hell was that for!" Pet screams, her anger bubbling over.

"Oi, quiet down," Doffy smirks, "I think you should get some rest before going out all by yourself on the ocean, may I remind you of your Devil Fruit?"

Pet scowls, "I'm fine, I've gone for days without sleep on the war front and didn't falter once. I think one day without sleep leaves me pretty okay." She goes to the railing again, this time when she feels it coming she quickly but gently drops her glider and unsheathes yin and yang and with her usual spin, suddenly she has yin in her left hand to Doffy's throat while she stands behind him, eyes yellow and narrowed. "You're right, I'm pretty tired, so tired, my mood isn't so good right now."

Doffy smiles wide at her boldness, Corazon portrays nothing while Law seems shocked that Pet has Doffy in an unfavorable position.

"Oh what a fine addition you would make to our family, fufufu," Doffy laughs.

Pet's eyes remain narrowed, "Now are you gonna let me leave without starting something?"

"Maybe."

Pet sighs and sheathes her katana shaking her head, she pats Law on the head and goes to give Corazon a one armed hug sneakily slipping her den den mushi number in his pocket and with a wink she turns to Doffy who seems expectant. She goes and gives a brush of her lips to his cheek and whispers, "Thank you," before she gets a running start, picks up her glider, jumps off the ship and onto the ocean below riding her glider like a skateboard/ripstick.

* * *

It only took a few hours for her to catch up to her men on her glider. They were all happy to see her in one piece and she excused herself to her quarters for some much needed rest.

* * *

A month later she got a call on her den den mushi with an order from the Gorosei asking her to eliminate an infamous pirate by the name of Raiden. They don't know what his attack capability is, he does have a devil fruit so she has to take extreme caution and his crew is only powerful when he's with them.

_This'll be easy._

To say the least, it was not at all easy. Pet tracked Raiden to an island only to find it in desolation with the people massacred. Not the prettiest sight, even Pet was repulsed. Blood stained the town red showing slashes were made and the bodies were left out to rot. The smell dulled Pet's senses and she kept her eyes on the lookout. She had her men scout the area, but ordered them to not go out of range to be heard. She knew Raiden was still on the island. One tiny discrepancy Pet found was all the windows had been smashed but they were so cleanly cut that she wondered what could have done it.

Then she heard a rustling of the wind, but it was a strange rustling. Her yellow eyes scoured the area and the men with her frowned, but otherwise remained silent. Pet started walking towards the footsteps she had previously assumed was her own men, she wasn't so sure anymore. What she came upon after turning a corner stopped her in her tracks and caused her eyes to narrow.

Standing in the full light of day was a Goliath of a man whose body seemed pure bulk and brawn. All his muscles ripped, even his shirt was a bit ripped at the edges, but that was just his style. He stood there grinning and he dropped the Marine, whose neck he had crushed with his hand. He had a few men surrounding him with smug looks on their faces.

Pet felt the tension in the air, as if wading through water. Raiden initiates a conversation, "Oh look, I presume the lady is the one in charge," his voice is deeper than the ocean.

Her men behind her shuffle on their feet. Pet's eyes remain narrowed and her face portrays disgust, "You would presume correct, 'Thunder Clap' Raiden. I'm here to eliminate you."

His deep throaty laugh echoes into the silence, "Oh, not even gonna take me in, cuff me. You guys just going around killing people now?"

"No, we do not go around killing people, but I've just decided that you deserve to die, the evidence is plastered all over this town." Pet's voice is calm and collected, but her hatred is growing.

She is just about to unsheathe yin, when Raiden makes the first move, she didn't think anything of it when he was about to slam his hands together, just thought he was some sort of gorilla about to pound his chest. When he does clap, however, true to his name, the sound of thunder fills everyone's ears, but it's not regular thunder. It's booming and earth shaking, it shatters people ear drums. Pet's men have it easier off then she, because well, she was dipping into her wolf senses making her hearing much much more sensitive.

The end result consisted of her covering her ears at the intense pain pounding her ear drums and shattering them. She starts hugging the ground and shakes from the pain. Her Marines surround her and try their best to protect her, but only after the pain subsides does she open her eyes to see only two men left. They aren't faring well against Raiden and his crew. Although they did take out some of his men leaving only four more on his side. Raiden, himself, is intrigued by Pet's easy submission and he was barely even trying!

With a booming laugh that sends a jab of pain through Pet's ears, Raiden easily bats away her last two men and goes for Pet. She rises with a resolved expression. "HAHHAHA How interesting! Never thought making the famed 'Demon Wolf' Pet submit would be so simple!"

Pet remains silent, _I can beat him as long as he doesn't use that strange ability of his. _She gets into battle stance with her katana drawn, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Raiden continues smiling, "Nah, I think I'm going to toy with you, should be interesting to see how much my ability affects you." Pet frowns wondering what else he has up his sleeve.

And so the fight began, Pet easily took out the fodder in one swift motion before Raiden whistled so high pitched that it struck Pet to the core. She could feel the vibrations travel down her spine and actually shatter her ear drums causing mass amounts of blood to drip from her ears. It was at that moment that Pet took a knee and shut her eyes with her katana lowered before a punch to her gut knocked her back through several houses. Just from that one punch, Pet can feel some of her ribs cave in making her breathing labored and pained. Her broken bones stab her from the inside, poking her lungs with every breath she takes. Blood travels up her throat making her cough it up.

But she doesn't have a moment to herself, because suddenly Raiden is over her with that maniac smile and he raises one fist and brings it to her face successfully knocking her out.

Sometime later, her blurry vision permits her to make out a night sky. She raises her head some, only to hear the grinding of her broken bones. Shivers are sent through her from the pain and she notices she's still buried in one of the town houses. _Where'd he go?_

She arises, although somewhat labored, and tries to push the pain echoing through her whole body out. After what feels like years, she finally reaches her ship to find it destroyed and all the men left to guard it dead in what looks like the gruesome ways possible. She's too tired to feel anger, just an unbearable amount of pity and self-loathing. _Just because I couldn't take a little pain._

_You and I both know that was not a little._

_It shouldn't have mattered, now Raiden's loose and I... am in no condition to leave. I can barely stand as it is. _As if on cue Pet falters, but she just doesn't have the strength to right herself. She falls with a painful thud onto the deck of her ship.

~Hours Later~

Doflamingo is alerted to an island up ahead. Upon closer inspection, when they dock they find it deserted except for a town that's home to mangled carcasses of people. Doffy remains impassive at the sight and Corazon and Law walk side by side with him while the rest are off in various parts of town seeing if they can get some left over supplies.

Walking through the town they come upon some destroyed buildings leading to one and see some Marine-uniform-wearing dead people. Doffy smirks a little, _another town nobody could save all because the Marines are in charge._

They come across the warship and find it destroyed with cracks along it's body and the mast tipped. Doffy smiles and goes to survey the damage. Corazon and Law find silence is golden and merely glance around at things. Corazon goes over to Doffy on the ship, when he sees him frown uncharacteristically. Law follows.

They come across the beaten and bloody form of Pet, Doffy says, "What a shame, now she can't join my crew."

Law's eyes widen a fraction and Corazon reveals nothing, but inside he thinks, _Whose gonna take care of Law now?_

The men and boy are startled, however, when Doffy goes to push her on her backside with his foot and she's up in flash holding a white blade to his throat. Her eyes are dulled and she acts purely on instinct. When the scent of familiars passes her nose, however, she lowers the blade stabbing it in the wood and falling to her knees leaning heavily on it. She coughs up some more blood, and some new blood drips from her ears.

Doffy smiles, "So you weren't dead fufufu. But you do seem to have lost badly." To his surprise Pet does nothing, she says nothing, she doesn't even seem as if she heard him at all, because she honestly didn't. Corazon's eyes narrow and Law is shocked at her appearance, she's always the picture of confidence and strength, but now she's in a weak state.

Pet's eyes refocus and she recognizes the three men by sight, "The... other-" more blood, "guy... cheated." She breathes out. Doffy's brow rises.

Again, Corazon shows indifference, but inside, _She really needs some medical attention! _Law thinks along those lines too, "Oi, she will die if she doesn't see a doctor." Pet starts chuckling although her laugh is laced with pain, "Don't you mind me, pirate, it'll take much more to kill me."

Doffy laughs, "Fufufuffufu, give it up Pet, just ask for my help and you'll owe me one."

Pet smiles widely and her mouth is coated red, "Never," and with one that word she is sent over the deep end, something in her snaps and she crumples to the floor gasping for breath that will never come on its own. She's on her back clutching her side where her lung would be, every breath she takes is searing pain so much pain her face is contorted with it.

_Guess this is it._

_I bet it is._

_It was fun. Wasn't it?_

_... Not really, no._

_Darn._

She can't catch a breath and painfully drifts into unconsciousness due to asphyxiation.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Thanks for reading. Hope ya'll enjoyed. You know what to do; Review, Favorite, Follow. Until next time ;)


	6. Her Responsibility

**Author's Note:** I know I've been gone for many months and I owe you all like over 30 chapters and I'm currently working on them right now. I promise I did not ever intend to abandon this story and I will continue to the best of my ability.

**Warning: **I don't plan on having this story being extremely mature but I also don't want to whiplash you with a roller coaster story with some arcs super dark and others not but just know that it could happen.

Some Characters you may(should) know:**Don Quixote Doflamingo(Doffy), Don Quixote Rocinante (Corazon), Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Garp, Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Dadan.**

Mentions of: **Kizaru, Aokiji, Akainu, Sengoku, X Drake, Smoker.**

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 5

In my unconsciousness I feel no more, I am light. Time spent with Agnes fills my dreams and this comfort, I never want to leave it. To go back to the real world and to always have my guard up, how can I bear it any longer? I live and fight for my people, yet they do nothing for me in return. Why do I keep fighting? How can I find the strength to go on? To be Happy? I question what Happiness truly is now, I've never had the pleasure of experiencing it, truly.

* * *

A sudden searing pain echoes through Pet's body and she squirms slightly, but powerful hands hold her down. She grits her fanged teeth and clenches her fists. Then after all is finished, she goes back to her peaceful slumber. Doffy removes his hands from her shoulders after he can no longer feel any resistance, "Good job Law," he smiles down at said boy. Law sweats somewhat after having to fix Pet's broken ribs, one of the most painful things one can ever experience, especially for the first time, although he feels she wouldn't have even flinched if she had been awake.

Corazon removes his grip, as well, from her legs. Doffy goes to leave and tells Law, "Keep an eye on her, Doctor." Law nods not looking away from Pet's face. _She barely put up much of a fight_, Doffy frowns to himself. Then he's out the door heading to his quarters. Corazon takes a seat by Law and strikes a match then lights his cigarette.  
Law glares menacingly at Corazon, "No smoking around a patient." Corazon blows smoke into his face and keeps silent. The silent message is crystal clear to Law, however, _Like I give a shit, a little smoke isn't going to kill her. _Law huffs and they both continue to sit vigil while their friend slumbers. Pet contracts a fever in the middle of the night, but not due to infection, they actually can't find the real cause.

* * *

Everything burns! The once beautiful sun is now deep red, like lava, a massive volcano crater in the sky, which spews fireballs crushing and burning and killing. The world is painted red in it's light and I try to escape, I try to run, but the fireballs seem to be aiming at me and I just don't have the strength to get away. In the distance, I see my safe haven, an area where no fireball can reach. I have to jump and I do. Midair, I realize, I'm not going to make it!

Doffy materializes on the cliff holding out a hand, and before I can even begin to think about it, I grab his outstretched palm. I slam into the rocky cliff hanging with Doffy the only thing keeping me from falling. I look up in relief to him, he smiles down at me before saying, _Why would I want you in my crew? You're weak, not fit to live any longer_. He releases his hold and in shock I can only scream while I start the plummet to my death. The wind disturbs my hair and clothes, it cradles my face and I allow one glance at the ground which slowly gets closer and closer.

Two hands grab each of mine and I stop midair. Corazon and Law's hands. One massive and one child size. I await the release of them, but it never comes. Suddenly there is ground beneath my feet and I look into both their faces, their smiling faces. Just for me. The world around me ceases to be torrid and dark full of hurtful light and it turns into the real world. The yellow sun shines on us and it's beautiful and feels good. I allow feelings of joy to enter my heart. I come to understand, _I can't do this alone._ Cora nods once, before lightning tears through the sky and clouds cover the sun. The once smiling faces of Corazon and Law now depict frowns.

Their eyes focus behind me and I turn and see Doffy with his usual smile, his lip curled in a wide and evil smirk. I frown, and he speaks, _Step aside, traitors will be killed._

My heart and stomach turn rock solid with resolve, _No, I protect my friends to the death._ Another lightning bolt shoots across the sky, and we begin our battle. We both go in for the first hit and then, _Kaboom!_ Thunder sounds in my ears and I am about to bolt upright in my bed, but a hand keeps me down by the shoulder. I look up into the eyes of one Corazon, smoke puffing from his cigarette in the corner of his mouth. His lips are pulled downward in a frown and we stay still for a moment, before he retracts his hand deciding I'm actually awake.

* * *

~Hours earlier~

Law's sweat glided down his forehead as he rushed to treat Pet's fever. _How did she even get this?! She doesn't even have an infection!?_ Corazon merely watches as she tenses and relaxes periodically after some odd minutes he deduces officially, _She's having a nightmare and a very bad one and that._ He wonders what could possibly make the great 'Demon Wolf' Pet shake, even if only in her dreams. She cries out in her sleep, but not an earsplitting scream, instead a very deep growl through clenched teeth. Law freezes and Corazon watches merely by her side and wonders if there's something he should be doing.

He places his left hand over hers, covering it completely. His eyes dart to Law whose followed suit with her other hand. Her features remain pained for a moment before her expression softens and her body relaxes. Law frowns looking at his hand on hers, _Medicine didn't help her, but... this did?_ Corazon continues to study her face and he's confused when her body tenses once more. He places his hand on her shoulder before a cannonball is shot upstairs from their ship and her eyes shoot open and she's about to sit up, but with a little pressure on her shoulder Corazon successfully keeps her laying down.

They both stare at each other for a moment before Corazon removes his hand and turns his back, going to sit down with his usual dark purple feathered coat puffing out around him. Pet stares at the ceiling and then she realizes, _Oh! I'm not dead._

_It would seem so. Also... if you ever do something like that again I will kill you!_

_Sounds like someone was worried_.

_Shut up Bitch_.

A smile appears on Pet's face and she surveys the wounds coloring her body. Everything is wrapped and healing nicely. She turns to Law who has been watching her look herself over and she places a hand on his hatted head and smiles wide, "Nice job, Doctor Law." Said boy looks away slightly blushing and Pet sits upright officially and feels her bruised ribs ache. She clenches her hand at her side lightly before directing a question to the smoking man in her room, "How long have I been out?"

Corazon says with smoke trailing from his breath, "Few days."

Pet nods, _Not too long then_. Law speaks up suddenly, "How are you almost fully healed?"

Pet smiles and she looks at Law, "Guess," her eyes glow a bright yellow and realization gives Law a good left hook, but Law only nods in understanding. Pet turns her attention back to Corazon, "Cora, do you have my den den mushi or may I borrow one of yours? I should probably call HQ." Cora nods and moves to find a den den mushi when Doffy enters the room and is surprised by Pet's sitting upright in bed and looking fully aware. He smiles deviously, "Ah Pet, look who decided to wake up. Thought you were going to die."

Pet shrugs, "Some people just don't know when to let go I guess." The hidden knife in her words doesn't go very deep into Doffy, he acts as if he didn't catch the threat in her tone, "Yes but lucky for me, you're not dead so you can still join my crew."

"Actually I'm probably going to Marine Headquarters pretty soon unless they give me other orders."

"What makes you think I'll let you out of my grasp?"

"What makes you think I was ever within your grasp? Do you think I'll feel indebted to you because you helped me out a bit? Too bad I've never been the thankful type, or the whole indebted type." Pet turns away and turns her back to Doffy with her legs hanging off the side of the small bed. She slides down and slowly puts her full weight on her feet. She takes small steps forward with a hand out on the wall, "where are my blades and glider?"

"You can't leave in your condition!" Law practically yells in her ear, Pet waves her hand at him motioning that he shut up. Cora grabs her arm and she looks up into his eyes for a moment and the message has been received. He helps her back into bed, "When I'm healed more, I'm outta here!" Pet grumbles. Law is very relieved at her words and Doffy only frowns at the interaction between his brother and her. _What happened between them_, he ponders.

* * *

~Six Years Ago~

Pet was twelve when the higher ups sent her to spy on an operation going on in the North Blue. She didn't really mind traveling with the other men, in her Navy outfit, she was tall enough at this time to pass off for a sixteen year old. None of the other Marine's questioned her age, they just assumed she was an adult due to her mature qualities because along with the height factors she also grew into her chest size as well and those screamed woman, but of course she really was only twelve. The trip to the North Blue was uneventful until they got there, there was a bit of a storm going on, but she wasn't intimidated in the least. The other men were afraid to go on with the waves being so unforgiving, but she merely stood silently looking out onto the island of Rubek. They were going to make a trade with some pirates, her superiors told her the Ope Ope no Mi is a very powerful devil fruit and should not be in any of the other pirates hands, otherwise it would prove unfavorable. They dock at the island with much trouble and Pet finds it easy to slip away what with the chaos, _weakling soldiers_, she smirks. Transforming into her full beast form she gallops easily through the wind and snow.

Of course, with the weather, she doesn't catch many scents and heads to where she knows the trade will go down. She just wants to scope it out beforehand. Her wolf form easily slips silently and quickly through the pounds of snow when she finally finishes her climb of the mountain separating the dock from the inland valley where a small town exists that, from what she remembers, is abandoned. Her yellow wolf eyes hone in on the mansion at the bottom of the hill where lights and smoke come from, there's disarray over something, a person, she thinks.

She trots down and hides behind some mounds of snow spying on the pirates and their new prisoner.

Her eyes widen slightly as she takes in the brother of Donquixote Doflamingo, Corazon as they call him, but she knows him also as Donquioxte Rosinante. He's at gun point, at the moment, for trying to steal the Ope Ope no Mi. She narrows her eyes, a fellow Marine in trouble does not sit well with her, even if she doesn't feel very connected to the Navy. In a spur of the moment, she steps in, shifting back into her human form and drawing her katana, with a swift twirl all the men fall with minor wounds and hits to render them unconscious. Pet's eyes meet Corazon's, he takes in her Marine uniform and she frowns, "Why are you taking the Ope Ope no Mi Corazon-san? You know we agreed to trade unless you are betraying the Marines?"

Corazon asks, "Who are you? How do you know who I am?"

Her frown deepens, "I am called Pet, I take my orders directly from the Gorosei, now tell me. Why are you betraying the Marines? Are you in league with your brother?"

Corazon frowns and Pet upon seeing this, "I take that as a no. Alright, so then why are taking the Ope Ope no Mi?"

Corazon continues to frown and just replies, "Considering you didn't kill me on the spot, I'm going to assume you're willing to listen to what I have to say, so I'd rather show you." He stands and leads her back to where he left little Law. Upon seeing the roughly six or seven year old Pet narrows her eyes and goes up to him, but he tries, with the little strength he has, to scoot away. His eyes on her uniform and she shakes her head realizing his fear of her status as Marine. Pet sees the telltale signs of the Amber Lead Syndrome and frowns then looks at the Ope Ope no Mi in Corazon's hand, she nods once in understanding before starting to walk away, "Okay fine, do what you have to but I was neve-"

"Fufufufu, Found you." Doflamingo smiles from the way of Pet's path, she breathes deep before in a blur she takes the devil fruit from Cora and appears by Law and shoves it in his mouth, she whispers, "Eat it, it'll help you, I promise." She says this, yet the deed is done and the powers of the fruit have been passed on.

Doflamingo looks extremely pissed at the moment and Pet stands tall, her height makes her look eighteen and does her mature aura. She smiles at Doffy, "Donquixote Doflamingo, the man of the hour, seems your brother was trying to betray the Marines by taking the devil fruit and eating it for you." A poor explanation she knows, but it's manageable. She continues to smile, "Now we Marines will be taking the boy so he can become one of us." Suddenly everyone's attention has been grabbed. Pet has an evil glint in her eye, "I'll be taking him now." She moves to grab him, but barely manages to dodge a bullet string attack from Doffy. Her eyebrows raise in mock confusion and surprise. Cora's eyes have also narrowed at her. Both the brothers have serious expressions and seem to intend to work together, of course for different reasons. Exactly what Pet was going for.

She holds back a devious grin and continues dodging attacks through various acrobatics since both brothers tend to rely on their leg power although Doffy also shoots the bullet string and tries to nab her with his killer thread. Pet was ready beforehand and her speed is unmatched, she realizes the fight will never end if she relies solely on defense so she goes on the offense.

With quick precision she lands a well-aimed strike to Cora's stomach using her fist. He slides back with clenched teeth and when he stops slight blood trickles down his chin, he was injured beforehand. Pet grins as if she were mocking him, but then Doffy's anger seems to have reached its peak. She easily anticipates his moves and begins her retreat she scoops Law up and notes he's better, because he's putting up a good fight. On the run, Doffy and Cora are behind her a ways, both have a dangerous air exuding from them, enough to make a lesser (wo)man shudder.

When Pet decides to address Law, who continues to put up a fight in her arms, she snaps and bonks him on the head lightly before saying, while they're running, "Sorry Law, I'm not really going to take you, I'm just doing this so Doffy doesn't try to kill you guys. It's a secret Kay? This way Cora won't be suspected, now I'm going let myself get hit by the bullet string coming my way and trip and let you go, make sure you run straight for them after I let you go that way it'll look more believable that its not worth it to go back... Alright here we go!"

On cue Pet takes a hit in her leg that disrupts her sprint and also finds a make believe rock that she "trips" on, and Law, as planned, falls out of her hands and she rolls away as she expertly led them over a mountain away from where her ship is docked and gets to tumble down the hill and over a cliff. She's ready this time and immediately grabs onto the cliffside with her claws and she runs along it out out of sight and heads back to her ship. She slips back in and nobody ever suspects a thing, except for the small wound that she hides quickly. She worries if her plan worked though, her comrades weren't too happy to find out the pirates had lost the fruit to other pirates and Doflamingo worst of all. Pet holds back a chuckle. Afterwards she tells her superiors that she doesn't believe there was any foul play on a Marine's part. She says so with such sincerity, like always, they are clay in her hands.

* * *

~Time Skip~

Through the years Pet has had a few more close encounters with Cora and his brother. His brother, psychotic in trying to uncover Pet's many secrets, through much trial and error he gets bits and pieces, forever trying to perfect his knowledge of her as a person, but she is always locked and he can barely get a glimpse of her true person hiding in the darkened cell.

Pet smiled when she saw Cora for the first time after the incident on Rubek, but he had yet to take note of her. She sneaks by after surveying her surroundings in the town she was deployed at for information seeking purposes, alone. She easily maneuvered herself to walk beside Cora before he noticed her and had a silent panic attack. She smiles, "Been a while Cora, what two years? Maybe three?" He only nods, she casts her senses out and through Haki she finds his brother and Law are also present on the island. "Well I'm happy you and Law are alright. Hope things went smoothly and everybody was pleased. Well except being around Doffy probably isn't so safe for anyone. Hm."

More silence as Pet considers whether she helped or merely prolonged the inevitable. She frowns in thought before shrugging and starts to slip away from Cora, but he stops her by grabbing her arm and she deciphers it as he has something to say and nods to an alley coming up on their right. She leads him in before stopping and confronting him. He casts his devil fruit before beginning, "Why did you help us? You went so far... Law told me what you did." Pet shrugs and smiles sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head, "It was all spur of the moment stuff really. Once I saw you were helping Law and what you were willing to do, well, I just did what I thought best to help. I mean sure now Law is within Doffy's grasp, but Law can't have full control of the devil fruit yet and I'm sure we can get him away from him later when its more pertinent. Or I could have just made things worse for the future, but we won't know now will we?"

Cora's eyes have widened at her words, "We?" Pet shrugs, then nods. The talk, after, consisted of more awkwardness before Pet had to leave after spotting her target passing by the alley's entrance. They part ways and, of course, later Doffy had his encounter with her. They had a small fight in which he found out her name and age before she devised an escape plan and executed it perfectly.

A year later, she received the kill order on Doffy which she gladly accepted before they revoked it due to Doffy's possession of all their balls.

All leading up to where Pet is now, in a chair in Doffy's ship reading while Law works at his cute little doctor's desk. They are in utter silence until it shatters by sound of cannon fire. Pet huffs in annoyance, she can't go out and risk it be a Navy ship, otherwise they will suspect her for a traitor. She has healed mostly and is well rested the only thing keeping her is her and Cora's plan to smuggle Law away from Doffy before Pet has to return to Navy HQ.

Pet spent many hours on the ship just hanging out on the deck and watching the ocean carry them by. Very peaceful times that'd last from dawn to dusk and she'd never move and no one would disturb her, Doffy tended to leave her alone after a while, while sometimes Cora would come and lean on the rail she was sitting on and they'd both be looking out. Pet started feeling very zen, until the day she cracked.

"I'm leaving tonight."

Cora's head snaps to her and his eyes hidden by sunglasses search for anyone else on the ship to hear the conversation, "What?"

Pet turns her attention away from the ocean and looks where she knows his eyes are, "I'm leaving tonight, with my glider and my katana and also, do you want me to take Law with me? You could come too if you wanted. Find someplace else to devote your time." Cora looks away processing the suddenness of her departure, well they had discussed it, just that the days were good, and when Pet was around Doffy was in a better mood, less demented. Cora looks back to find Pet's eyes expectantly awaiting an answer from him, he sighs and nods, "I guess, take Law with you, but I should stay." Pet frowns, but doesn't question, she just nods in understanding and says, "Okay."

The hours pass by without incident or tension, just life as usual. Of course Law had to be informed of their departure and he started regarding Pet as an enemy once more because she was taking him away from all that he knew and Cora. With quiet acceptance Pet took his hate, Cora and Law spent even more of their time together and Pet left them to it. Surprisingly, the crew docked at an island to restock and Pet's only thought was, _perfect. _

The night soon was upon them and Pet took her usual spot and waited until Doffy was asleep and initiated her escape. She took her glider and strapped her katana to her back, as usual, after she carefully snuck them away. Then she entered Cora and Law's shared room to find them up and waiting for her. She frowns, but motions her head at Law and he stands and they all go outside together, quietly.

Tension fills the air and a quiet sorrow as well. Pet whispers, "Time to say your final goodbyes."

Law and Cora look at each other, but then a voice startles them all, "Precisely. Fufufu" Pet moves to grab her katana, but finds she can't, not without extreme difficulty and pain. Her inner animal riles up at the notion of being caged and a low growl sounds through the air, she notices Law and Corazon are incapable of moving as well. She tries to move and strain against the sharp thread while also telling Doffy, "And here I thought you were stupid. When'd you find out?"

Doffy laughs, "I've known ever since you saved my little brother and Law, I just wanted to give you the hope that you were outwitting me before I completely devastated you."

The Devil Fruit user shrugs a bit with a sheepish smile, "You should try harder to devastate me because to be honest you're only making me angry." Veins pop throughout Doflamingo's forehead, "That's my line!" The thread holding Pet tightens and he tries to contort her into a very uncomfortable position in which she yelps, but fights it. He seems to only be targeting her though and voices, "I'll deal with my idiot little brother and Law later after I finish killing you, you've worn out your welcome-" He gets cut off by Law's voice and then surprisingly enough Corazon's. Cora's strong voice echos, "Stop it Doffy!" Law and Pet's eyes fall on their outspoken friend. Pet watches with squinted eyes, her entire face contorted in pain as she is hunched over with her limbs threatening to bend in ways they were not meant to bend.

Doffy's face is the picture of shock and growing anger as he shakes, his whole body wracking with disbelief and anger at Cora's big secret revealed. Pet watches in horror at the scene being played out in front of her, the pain takes away from her awareness and with one glimpse she sees the brothers exchanging heated words and another when she sees Doffy completely and brutally cut down Corazon. The image of his pained and surprised face burns into her memory and then she sees Law's expression and that is enough to send her over the edge.

All the threads holding her snap at her strength and she goes in to severely injure Doflamingo. He never expected it and she claws, with her face the one kids see in their nightmares. Law, however, calls out to her as she holds the brother-murderer by the collar, hanging with blood dripping down his body. She turns her now red eyes on Law, her eyes the very expression of her burning anger and hatred, they seem to radiate fire, but Law doesn't falter and tells her, "Stop" his own grey eyes like a dull but deadly blade, "I want to kill him myself."

Pet's anger fades and she lets Doffy's body drop, the thread no longer holds Law, he just stood there watching her work, but she walks over to him with minor cuts and bruises where the threads held her, tiredness washes over her and she crouches in front of Law so she can see eye to eye with him. She stands looking into his eyes and deciphering all the emotion that passes through them before standing and nodding. She sees Cora's body on the ground and picks it up so she can give him a proper burial that she doubts his older brother would provide. Law walks side by side with her as the executives start waking up to the rising sun and come out to find the beaten body of Doffy and the receding figures of Pet and Law.

They deal with the grave and say their last goodbyes before Pet takes Law to the North Blue where he wants to start his pirate career. She leaves him in very capable hands, a regular friend of hers, before she goes, she tells him, "If you ever need me Law, don't hesitate to find me." He nods in understanding and she leaves the quiet kid, even quieter since the incident, but he has another goal now, it should give him the drive he needs.

Pet heads back to HQ and finds no one expected her to be alive and well, although she still wears some bandages. She never made many connections with the Marines and in accordance with this, there was no welcoming committee. When she got in to have a word with the Gorosei and report in they treated her as terse as ever, in fact they seemed angry that she was even alive. It was no big deal that she had lost a lot of men, an honorable sacrifice in the fight for justice. Pet's inner disgust riled at their words. She was dismissed and told she would be reassigned for a time with Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp and he would mentor her, because apparently she's not as strong as they thought. An insult plain and simple, it rolls off her though and she leaves to her untouched room to rest.

A few days later, Pet is summoned to leave with the Vice Admiral and go with him on his new assignment. Those days of free time were spent training at the gym while keeping away from others, she knows of the well known Marines and has had conversations with Aokiji, Kizaru, Akainu, Drake, even a bit with Smoker, but those conversations are always terse on her part as she tries to hide her disgust of the Marines. They don't need to know the circumstances of her employment. Her first impression of the highly respected man, Hero Garp, is one of utter shock and intrigue. His nonchalance and audacity amuse her, she wonders how the Navy allows such demeanor within their ranks, but then, he is a Hero. He has not a care in the world about making people uncomfortable and Pet holds firm against losing her cool against this massive man.

Pet usually keeps to herself while on the ship and sits in various places watching the days go by and thinking about Law. Few times does she participate in battle and when she does it's a quick end for her foes, whom are cut down in a blur of her blades. She makes it clear to Garp that she means to keep their relationship strictly formal, but he barely has a sense of the word.

To be honest, Pet feels as if she's in sort of a slump ever since Cora died, she's just not up to her full. She smells slightly of sadness and her features back up the stench.

Traveling the seas with Garp proved to be a very interesting adventure because Pet never knew what would happen next with this man, and secretly, she found him very amusing and funny, but she'd never admit it to anyone. Not that anyone would listen to her. She did, however, admire the way the Vice Admiral could lace venom in his actions and words, but still seem to be making friends with his enemies as if this were all a game.

* * *

It was a calm day when she walked around the ship searching for her mentor with a vein beginning to pop on her neck. Finally, she found the man standing and peering out over the sea while eating crackers. She keeps a good distance between them as she asks, "Vice Admiral Garp, sir?" He seems too serious on this day and she wants to understand why, her Uchiha blood won't allow her the luxury of letting knowledge escape her. She continues, "Where are we headed, sir?"

Suddenly Garp has her by the shoulders and comical tears fall down his face as he cries, "We're going to see my cute little grandson!" He's shaking her as she has a sweat drop, _how did I end up here?_

_Stupidity got you there, sweetie._

Outwardly, Pet's face is stoic as she places her hands over her mentor's and pulls them off before saying, "I see," then walking away. She stands at the rail looking out to sea, _So the Hero has a family, huh. Wonder how they are._

_My guess is you don't want to find out, I mean, going off of what he's like?_

_You know, in another life I might've felt comfortable around this man and even would have sought to make him a friend. If he knew the information surrounding my entry as a Marine Officer, I almost feel as if..._

_He wouldn't agree or stand for it. Because let's face it, you're basically a captive, prisoner of war so to speak, heheheh_

_A war nobody knows took place and will pick up again._

_I wonder if we'll be around to see it._

_... I hope not..._

_Because you're afraid of what you'll turn into and how people will view you._

_No, I'm afraid to transform because of what it means, when I transform I will have lost my everything. I can't transform now because I have nothing to lose, what if I find something so precious that I can't live without it. What happens when it's taken away and I become the beast. What if I decide to never change back?_

_... What do you mean you have nothing to lose? What about your family? Quit being so self-pitying. Your life isn't all bad._

_Sure I reconciled with my family, but I can never trust them, they turned so easily on a child, on me, even if that child had the mind of an adult the hormones were all childlike. They showed no kindness, but merely acted if I were part of the wall, no, it would be no great loss for me if they all perished, they turned their backs on me first. And how can I not pity myself? I'm what my father wanted me to be, instead of what he kicked me out for. That's so fucked up it's almost comical._

_Okay, we need to stop this train of thought._

A great hand slaps Pet's back and she turns to Garp standing beside her looking out at the sea as well, but he has his thoughtful expression as he retracts his hand to his side he asks, "What do you see, Pet?"

"The vast ocean," Pet merely responds turning back to look at the blue waters.

Garp shakes his head at her answer, very serious, and counters, "I doubt that's all you see with how much you look to it." Pet shrugs, "I'm not looking at what's in front of me, but what's beyond the ocean. So much life and yet it's so quiet."

Garp smiles and laughs walking away, "Thinking about your family Pet? I assume you have one."

Pet remains unwavering, "No, I have no family just my duty to the Marines," Pet turns away from the sea and follows behind Garp, "When do we make land?" Garp smiles, "Soon."

Pet wonders what his whole seriousness was about, she knows he's no stupid man but his seriousness goes away so quickly that it's like something crosses his mind before he puts it back. _Weird guy, I'll have to watch out for him._

_Even though you could probably wipe the floor with him?_

_Could I? _

* * *

They dock at a small village, called Foosha on Dawn Island in the Goa Kingdom. Pet hates the thought of Kings nowadays, they make her want to puke. The whole idea that it was kingdom's rivalries that affected the world like this, makes every kingdom responsible. Not that the common people are any smarter. Garp heads down the ramp to the dock, "You all stay here... except Pet, Pet come with me."

Pet sighs and follows behind Garp, as they make their way through the town everyone greets Garp while he jokes and greets them back. They leave Pet alone because her whole aura exudes annoyance. They get to a small tavern in which Garp enters happily barking, "Where is my cute little grandson!?" The bar tender welcomes him warmly, she's a petite woman with dark green hair and big eyes, with a bandana around her head. There's also a little boy on a stool drinking juice, his most defining feature, when his back is to Pet, is his straw hat. Garp smiles that D smile and the little boy turns to Garp before hopping down and running over to him pointing to his hat. With a clear view of the child's face Pet examines, his scar under his left eye, black hair and eyes, and Pet notes he's roughly six or seven years old, so chibi.

She zoned out and when she comes to, all she hears is Garp remarking on where Luffy got his straw hat and Luffy responding with pride, "Shanks gave it to me!" If Pet weren't so good at imitating a robot her jaw would be on the floor, or she'd have snorted from laughter, _the audacity of the child!_

_Yep, he's definitely Garp's grandson alright._

Of course, Garp's jaw hit the floor before his anger begins rising as Luffy says, "I'm going to be Pirate King and I promised Shanks that when I become a great pirate I will return his hat to him!" Luffy giggles to himself obviously excited and flattered by Shanks' actions. Pet frowns as she thinks, _Oh shit._

_~You like him~_ The voice in her head mocks, _Who knew children are your kryptonite._

_Kryptonite? The fuck is that?_

_Uh never mind, different world... I mean your weakness._

_... Well duh! Can't have another child's innocence taken away like mine was!_

_Here we go again._

Pet is snapped from her argument when Garp gives Luffy his fist of love and the little boy holds his head with a look of anger, "What was that for!?"

Garp responds, "You're going to be a Marine!"

"No! I'm going to be Pirate King! I promised Shanks!" Luffy crosses his arms and Garp, so frustrated, just grabs at his head with an enraged expression. He formulates a plan and tells Luffy, "We're leaving." Luffy, of course, refuses to leave so Garp picks him up by the collar of his shirt and walks out. He gives Makino one look and she seems to understand while Pet merely follows. She really doesn't know what's going on.

She follows Garp at a distance as he leisurely walks out of town, towards the mountains muttering to himself and Luffy about the obvious danger of leaving Luffy in a peaceful town and his corruption from Shanks. Pet thinks on Shanks for a while. She heard rumors that the pirate was on Gol D. Roger's ship when he was younger and now he can stand on par with the other Yonko. The man had connections and the makings for a fine pirate. She knows the Gorosei are definitely wary of him, as they should be. A barely visible smile lights Pet's face as she thinks on how a single man, a pirate, can make the Gorosei struggle to keep up.

In that moment, as Pet walks behind her mentor she thinks, _if I ever meet that man. I'd love to have a drink with him._

_And risk your family's safety?_

_Every now and then yes, I can treat myself to what I want. I think I could get away with a drink. _

_Just don't push it. _

* * *

Pet stands next to Luffy as Garp goes up to a wooden house in the middle of nowhere. She raises a brow before looking down at Luffy and then at the house, as she understands why they left the village. _Garp's trying to hide him away?_

_Not hide, more like keep him safe, in a twisted way._ Pet nods and listens in on Garp's conversation with the Mountain Bandit, Dadan. She smiles despite herself when Luffy starts running to and fro in the yard with that D smile before she snaps to attention when Garp introduces her saying, "This is my underling Pet, she's going to drop in from time to time to check up on the boys and teach them about Marine life while acting as a mediator between Goa Kingdom and HQ." Pet frowns slightly and inwardly she expresses her shock, _WHAT THE FUCK! I should not be hired to recruit children into the Marines. I'm a horrible choice!_

_HAHAHAHahahahah you really are! You'd probably push them to becoming Pirates haha. But don't tell him that!_

_And then I have to fucking deal with Nobles! Aw fuck! I hate those pricks! _

_I don't envy you! hahah_

_Son of a bitch!_

_I thought you were just supposed to shadow Garp?_

_I don't even know anymore. _

Pet sees Dadan giving her a look like she can push her around, but Pet smirks at her as Garp says, "She's a ranking officer more than capable of holding her own, and despite her rank, she's probably much stronger."

Pet nods to the curly haired woman with her smirk still in place, "Nice to meet ya." A chill is sent up the big woman's spine. Garp abruptly ends the conversation while Dadan still tries to argue, but Garp's head is elsewhere now. Pet follows as he introduces Luffy to Ace, raising a brow at the spit incident, _What a punk_. Then Garp and Pet head back down the mountain, on the way, Pet clears her throat and asks, "When was it decided for me to be a mediator?"

Garp calmly replies, "I decided that while you stay on the island you can make use of yourself. It shouldn't take up too much time and you can spend the rest watching over the boys and making sure they stop speaking of foolish dreams of piracy."

A fire is kindled within Pet as she frowns, but nods in response, "So what will I have to do with the nobles."

Garp frowns before saying, "Nothing much, just listen to them complain and you'll be getting orders on this," a small den den mushi is thrown to her as Garp walks on in front of her. She catches it and frowns as she realizes that Garp might not realize who he's working for, but he seems so smart and well trusted? He also doesn't seem like the kind of man to stick around when he doesn't agree, as if he always gets his way. What would he do if he found out about her? About what the World Government and Nobles are capable of?

Pet pushes those thoughts away and her brooding air dissipates before she asks, "Why do you want _**me **_to watch over the boys?" Garp shrugs and Pet's frown deepens.

While walking through the village Garp tells her, at the foot of the loading board for his ship, where she must head and who to talk to to get settled in for her assignment. Pet salutes after he finishes and he walks away still somewhat solemn which Pet finds unnerving. Garp is not a serious person not unless something big is wrong.

Pet backs away and walks into the forest before shifting to her full beast form and running to the walls of the Goa Kingdom. She changes back to her regular Commodore self and walks through the streets heading to the small Navy building and dealing with the people there. The civilians on the way there seem to disregard her, but few watch with slitted eyes.

* * *

~Meanwhile~

Garp sits in his office, on his battleship, laughing into the den den mushi in his hand, "It'll be good for her!"

"Still! You should watch out for that one Garp. She's a mystery around HQ. Doesn't have any friends, nobody knows anything about her... And the Gorosei always seem to be calling her in and when she goes out she's out for months at a time sometimes."

Garp still laughs, "Bwahahah, you worry too much Sengoku!"

The den den mushi shows a serious expression, "She's always around for the bad stuff... probably attracts it." Garp isn't paying attention anymore as he's focused on eating his rice crackers before Sengoku, on the other line, gets angry, "Are you even paying attention Garp!"

The conversation didn't continue for much longer as Garp was assigned to patrolling the sea and the location of his choice.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **So there you have it. I'll have the next chapter up on this day next week. So let me know what you thought, Review, Favorite, Follow. You get the gist. Until next time ;)


	7. Bonds

**Author's Note: **I know I'm late, I forgot... sorry...

Characters Included: **Curly Dadan, Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo**

Mentions of **Monkey D. Garp**

__Enjoy.__

* * *

Chapter 6

Finally Pet can get away from those Navy bastards! The division in this small kingdom is so small that she's the highest ranking officer there and those men and few women all look to her for guidance. The rumors have been spread, as they hear from the other divisions about Pet's appearance there and they tell what they've heard of her.

She's close to legendary in her dealings with the top brass of the Navy, even though she has yet to be promoted to Rear Admiral or even Vice Admiral status.

As Pet listens in on the many mutterings and gossips going on and on, she grows cross. _I don't want to be respected and revered by Marines! I don't even want to be here!_

_Quit your whining, you could silence them ya know... permanently..._

Pet considers that course of action before she cans it, _Nah too many risks of getting caught. I'd be considered a criminal! _*gasp*

_Oh, excuse me. I thought what with wanting to a be a **pirate **and all that being a criminal is kind of the same thing... At least in the eyes of the Navy._

_Ah who cares about what they think! They don't have eyes like mine. _Pet turns up her nose at the idea with satisfaction.

_Actually I think a lot of people have regular brown eyes, _the voice teases.

Pet huffs in response, _I meant my wolf eyes, jerk._

Pet is drawn from her thoughts as a young female Marine salutes her, basically asking permission to speak. Pet sighs inwardly and replies calmly, "At ease. Did you need something Melia?"

The woman flashes a small smile at Pet's use of her name, to which Pet wrestles the urge to roll her eyes. She notes the small visage of the young Marine and wonders how old she is and when did she join? Why did she join? She narrows her eyes at the thought, the blond's hair is tied back under her standard Marine cap with curls flowing from the tightened front. Pet nods in agreement with herself, she's a very beautiful woman. Said woman reports through pearly white teeth, "Some nobles have called you to listen about some problems they're having... they didn't mention what kind of problems."

Pet nods and stalks off after getting the location from her new underling, before Melia asks, "I could.. you know... show you the way if you'd like?"

Pet's just about to decline, "N-' when the blond quickly squeals, "So that's that." She walks ahead of Pet before turning and beckoning her forward while Pet follows at a distance wondering, _How did this happen?_

_For the smartest Uchiha around, supposedly better in every subject of life... your people skills need some work._

_The Uchiha have never been known as being friendly, so in this case... Sadly, this is the better than the other Uchiha can do..._

... Welp I'm going to say it since I know you won't... Pa-the-tic The voice clearly enunciates every syllable of the word and Pet shakes her head, but deep down she agrees... slightly... She picks up the pace and walks with a long stride beside Melia who turns to smile at her, but Pet keeps her eyes on the way ahead of them.

Melia bumps into her with a giggle and a vein pops on Pet's forehead as she fights the urge to rip the girl's throat out... with her teeth. Melia then asks, "Oh Pet! Have you been shown around the Kingdom?!"

Pet stops and faces her underling's excited frame and replies sternly and without way of dissuasion, "You can call me Commodore Pet," as is the protocol of showing respect to the ranking officers in the Navy and then she continues, "No I have not. I don't care to, at the moment. Now," She turns from what she considers a child, "you were leading the way to some Noble's meeting."

Melia nods, still smiling and begins walking again with Pet beside her. A few more minutes pass of weaving through crowded streets and Pet turning her cheek, shamefully, from the poor saps being carted off by the police because they just don't fit the image of the Kingdom. Melia speaks up again, "You know what they're saying about you back at our division's building?"

Pet feigns ignorance, "No."

Melia claps and the vein returns to Pet's forehead, "They're all talking about how you are some undercover agent with so many privileges and access to like everything. Some have said that you're like a phantom and most that should have known you or heard of you pretend that they don't! I hear that you're part of a secret division specially selected and in contact with all the people in charge with the World Government and Navy Headquarters! You're a legend!"

Pet nods and Melia gasps before Pet smirks, "Yep, that's all a legend. A fable. A rumor. None of it's true. I'm Commodore Pet. I've been with the Marines for three years and I'm good at what I do. Nothing more." Pet's smirk turns to a smile as the young Marine frowns, _so she bought it. Hopefully she'll tell everyone else._

_You know, it's almost true? Kind of are part of a secret division and you do work undercover for the Gorosei who are the top of the Navy... and World Government. You also do have a lot of privileges, when going undercover._

Pet continues down the paved stone with the disheartened Marine and a glance at her serious expression, _so what, I don't need people crowding around me. They know nothing!_

_And you've been a Marine for, like, fourteen years._

_Ah, finally, I'm twenty. Been an adult for two years and yet it feels like ten._

They reach the house in silence and Pet falls back to let Melia lead inside. The blond knocks on the door and the two wait before a pompous middle aged woman opens it. She wears a proper dress with her auburn hair falling in curls around her. She's not bad looking... for a noble. The woman immediately recognizes the two as Marines and ushers them in, promptly, so they may enter the meeting room and get down to business as a formal way of initiating Pet into their ranks and making her their lap dog, as with all the other Marines. Pet walks with a dignified air, walking in front of Melia now, as the Marine falls even more sullen. The Lady leads them down the hall, they turn left a few doors down from the front door, and the woman introduces her to the many nobles filling the room, all men.

Pet nods as Lady Christie motions, "Commodore Pet has arrived." She doesn't mention the lower ranking officer, now beside to Pet. Pet looks around as the nobles whisper amongst themselves and Pet picks up on their little mutterings about using her. She smiles lightly feigning ignorance, "So," she brings her hands together before crossing her arms in a display of shutting them out, "What seems to be the problem?"

An old man speaks first, "No problem just wanted to meet the new boss of the Marines. Maybe explain how everything works around here." Pet stifles a barf as the wrinkled face contorts into a smile, if it can be called that. She nods to herself once, before smiling and with no hesitation states plainly, "I don't take orders from any of you. I will do as my superiors order me, and so far, that does not include taking any action in your kingdom. I am simply to do my job as a Marine which entails bringing pirates to justice." Pet's smile fades as she continues, "Now I must be getting back and I will await my orders. If I get anything that includes you all, then I'll be sure to inform you." She turns her back to them and begins walking out, "I'll see myself out. Have a nice day." She walks out and when nearing the door she hears Melia scrambling to catch up with her as if she was recently shocked out of a daze. Pet walks down the steps to the house, onto the stone road and nods to Melia to begin the tour of the Kingdom.

* * *

After Pet left the noble's house, the old man stood abruptly, "The nerve of her!"

"She could ruin our plans for the clean up!"

"We'll have to deal with her!"

The reputable old man strokes his chin in thought, for a moment, and then he calms his younger partners, "We shall wait and see what needs to be done with her situation. She has yet to pose a real threat."

A middle aged man pipes up, "Come on Ruben! She does pose a threat! And frankly, I don't want her around when a godly Celestial Dragon blesses us with their presence. If anything she should be put away."

The others nod in agreement while looking to their trusted leader, who sits in thought for a moment before nodding and smiling evilly, "They'll have to travel the whole ocean, and still would never find her..."

* * *

Pet looks over her new underlings sitting on a ledge with a window open, while also retaining a clear view of the mess hall below where they mingle and eat. She shakes her head at the sight, _this division is so small and they have nothing to do. _Indeed, there are only around fifteen people working this division. She sighs before looking out her window and at the streets below where she notices the fancy-smancy people walking about, she wrinkles her nose at their stench. _Nobles smell fake._

_As if they'd be real. And I have to issue a formal complaint._

Pet raises a brow, _Oh, and what's your complaint?_

_You haven't decimated anyone for quite a while and I'm bored... So... Please go find someone to have a smack down with!_

Pet merely drops out the window, and with a flip has herself going feet first before reaching a hand with claws extended to take hold of the Marine office and stop her fall before pushing off with her legs and landing on the roof of the building across. She extends her senses and goes looking for trouble. Unfortunately, the only trouble she spots this far into the Kingdom is some shady looking characters, but no pirates. No faces printed on wanted posters. She sighs before her coat starts, _**purupurupuru**_-ing. She takes out the small snail and clicks it on. An unfamiliar voice reaches her ears as they order, "State your rank and name and give the designated password."

"Commodore Pet, 001592 Alpha."

"Password accepted."

"And my orders?"

"Track the nobles and find evidence of what they have planned for the Celestial Dragon. The World Government wants everything in tip top shape when they visit and the Navy would like to be prepared to step in if they do anything... extravagant."

"Aye sir."

_**-gacha-**_

Pet places the den den mushi inside her coat. She thinks, for a moment, before deciding her next plan of action.

* * *

A few weeks later, Pet has enough free time to stop by to visit the boys and check up on them, maybe spend a few days over there and get to know them a little. Garp already called her, riling her up as he reprimanded her for not going sooner, but she remained calm, as always. Every time she has a talk with that man she feels as though she has whiplash from constantly being jerked around via conversation. Up and down, left and right.

Pet closes her eyes as the breeze caresses her face and sends her coat billowing behind her along with her brown hair. A smile lightens her usually chiseled features and she weaves through the trees following her great wolf sense to where she knows the mountain bandits' hideout is. She hears some panting nearby and she tastes the air, her eyes glow yellow with the use of her power. She smells... a tiger? By the scent of it, it's huge. She follows the scent deciding that the panting off in the distance does not belong to the tiger.

When she reaches the scene where the stench of tiger fills the surrounding area, she spots, with a frown, little Luffy staring at the cat with wide and tired eyes, shaking. The massive cat is laying down with Luffy in between its paws, a look of animalistic amusement on its face as Pet recognizes the cat's decision to play with it's food. Luffy stays put, too scared to move, Pet guesses. As the giant pussy-cat raises it's paw to bat or crush Luffy, Pet steps in with a sigh, holding the monster's weight at bay with one hand next to Luffy, she tuts and asks him, "Hey kid, you wanna get outta here?" Luffy looks up at her with those massive eyes and black pupils, even more drenched in shadow due to his straw hat. She smiles as he nods vigorously and in a blur of movement she has him held like a football running away from the tiger.

Why didn't she just kill it, people may ask. She just doesn't like killing when she doesn't have to and to that, what she considers her inner demon responds, _Pa-the-tic._

When she decides they're far enough away, she slows to a stop and sets the young boy down. She crouches to get a good look at him, he just seems really tired, too tired to react to his situation. He's very ruffled with leaves sticking out and he's dirty and hurt. She frowns while standing and holding out a hand to him, he takes it and they walk back to Dadan's. She notices his difficulty and when he falters slightly she picks him up and puts him on her shoulder. Warmth builds in her cheeks, as she feels him relax with his chin atop her head and his arms hugging her neck, not choking her.

Their arrival causes a big stir and Dadan walks out, shocked to see Luffy, with her two underlings beside her. Pet smiles grimly, "Mind telling me why I found him wandering the forest alone and tired." She removes the child from her shoulders and walks up to Dadan so they see eye to eye, oh yes, Pet is that tall. She watches Dadan's face begin as defiant before starting to crumble and erode with sweat under Pet's piercing gaze, unwavering as she awaits an honest answer. Dadan stutters, "H-he was f-following A-ace and..." Dadan gains strength and resolve, "Ace came back without him, he's been gone for nearly month!" Pet stands back and turns to Luffy still standing, where she left him before turning back to Dadan, "Take care of him, I'll be back."

With that she turns and walks back into the forest, with her mind set on hunting, her blood-lust riles, _Kill! Feed! Drink their blood! Lap it up with no remorse! _

_Steady breaths, _Pet tells herself, closing her eyes and tries to quench the rising thirst and the excitement at taking a life. _Life is sacred, stop Pet, stop. Only to hunt. _The hunt excites her nonetheless and she shifts into her massive full beast form with her gaping jowls salivating and she breathes in the scent of the forest. Her black pelt stands out in the filtered sunlight, but she still moves gracefully and without sound. Her enhanced senses allow her to determine all forms of forest life going on around her. Deciding on a target she seems to glide along the forest with great bounds and within minutes she has come upon her target. She slows and leaps digging her claws high onto a tree trunk looking below at a bear ten times her size. Still undetected, she sheathes her claws pushing herself from the tree and righting herself so she lands square on it's back, her claws now unsheathed and she lands.

The bear growls in surprise and rises up with Pet clinging to its back, like a burr, as it staggers about, not able to grab her. She digs her claws in deeper before releasing and running about to meet it face to face. It swipes at her with a hefty paw and she dodges before tackling it with the strength of a moving train. It lands on its back, but it doesn't struggle long, as Pet's jaws and claws clamp on its neck and it grunts gurgling as the blood spews on her face and trickles from the beast's own mouth, its paws beat on Pet's back, but lose strength. She releases her hold and sees the light leave the bear's eyes. As with all wolves to signal a victory and to honor the dead, she raises her head facing skyward her mouth dripping blood, she howls clear and resounding so all may know her power.

Her howl dies down and she looks at her prey touching her muzzle to its forehead before stepping back and grabbing her catch throwing it into the air and letting in land on her back and she adjusts her run to carry the extra weight back to Dadan's. She shifts back to her human form wiping the animal's blood from her face. The eyes are all on her as she walks in hefting an extremely large bear and sets it down gently. She turns to the orange-ette and smiles asking cheerily, "Have you ever had bear before?"

She leaves them to it and heads inside to check on Luffy, she stops at the door and calls over her shoulder, "Make sure to skin it properly, you'll have some nice fur blankets to use." Dadan scratches her head. Pet follows Luffy's scent and finds his wounds cleaned, but he'll need some dressing. She sits and begins dressing his wounds expertly and quickly. When finished, she goes out to help with the bear, little Ace comes in looking disappointed, but raises a brow on his continually scowling freckled face as he takes in the sight of the downed bear.

His black irises land on Pet and his gaze narrows. Pet notes his reaction to her, while stepping in and preparing the bear meat. Then hands the pieces to begin cooking and Pet starts on making blankets and collecting the bear teeth and claws. She doesn't know what she's going to do with them, but she'll keep them for future necessities. She finishes crafting the blankets and makes many great sizes to be shared, but making for certain there are plenty for Dadan's wards. The sound of frenzied eating pulls her from her work and she stands in the doorway to watch the brawl over the food, despite there being plenty, enough ration a whole army. A small smile tugs at her lips as she pulls away. Casting a look at the doorway and deciding none are watching, she shifts and cleans the rest of the meat so as not to waste a precious life. Then she shifts back and goes inside to give a blanket to Dadan, then she goes to the boys small room and lays one down for them to lay on with their usual blankets covering them. She still has a few left so she tucks them inside deciding, her catch, her gift. Seating herself at the boy's window, she goes into a light sleep.

Pet's brown eyes open at the sound of Ace getting up and leaving. After he leaves, she smiles lightly as Luffy soon goes out as well. She watches from her perch as both boys head back into the forest, she wonders _To follow? Or not to follow?_

_They need to sort it out themselves. Leave em be._

Pet gets up and stretches and yawns, before going down and helping Dadan with the chores around the house. And so the day is spent cleaning about the bandit's home, of course, Dadan can't order her to do anything, but can only list what needs to be done and let Pet decide where she wishes to work. At some point Pet discards her Commodore coat and it hangs it nearby, before really going into chore mode. She even runs some errands for Dadan to get away. By the time everything's finished, the sun is going down and Luffy has already returned upon losing sight of Ace and getting hurt in the process of the latter's thwarting. She pulls her coat back on and walks out to the forest before shifting once more and following Ace's now faded scent, her wolf form besting her human form by a hundred even when as a human she dips into her devil fruit power. She slows to a trot when a breeze brings his fresh scent to her nose.

Ace lays his eyes upon the majestic animal completely black except for a jagged white line on its shoulder and its yellow eyes falling calmly on him, piercing through him. It stops a distance away and soon Ace stops to face it as well with his usual scowl still in place. He holds his pipe at the ready and asks, "Want a fight?" He thinks he could take it, but the wolf almost... smiles at him before it bares its fangs and a low growl sends vibrations up his spine, so eerie in the half-light. He unintentionally takes a step back.

Pet ends her growl at his reaction, _He seems to have got the message._

_That is one cocky brat though_

_Just constantly looking for a fight, he's angry about something._

Ace stays where he is, mesmerized at the beast's ended growl and it seems to watch him as well. He thinks it intelligent, which only makes it dangerous. Suddenly in a wisp it's gone. He searches for it with his eyes and grips his pipe tighter, but determines the animal gone.

Pet steps away and changes back to her natural self and comes from behind a trunk, "Ace? You gonna stand there all day?"

Ace's eyes widen for a fraction before his full scowl comes back, "What are you doing here?"

Pet smiles, "Watching out for you, it's getting late." She notices his wandering eyes(as in the surrounding area, no dirty implications) as he comes to stand next her. She follows his gaze and gives their environment a once over before taking her weight off the trunk and beginning the walk back to Dadan's.

Her gaze meets his once, before he asks, "Did the old man give you orders to look after me." She nods while adding, "and Luffy."

"Then you must be pretty annoyed being here babysitting."

"You two aren't babies. I also have other business to attend to, so I won't be around for long periods of time."

Ace's eyes continue to avoid Pet's before he turns to her suddenly and she meets his determined and angry look, "What if Gold Roger had a kid?"

Pet breaks eye contact at the question and processes it fully before sighing, "That'd be too sad. They'd have one of the most legendary men as their father, but the whole world would be against them for it. All because of their lineage. And they'd be sought after and would never be safe from the world's scrutinizing gaze. Too sad. And the population's reaction would be stupid as well. Everyone would hate a little innocent child and want them to pay for a parent's 'mistakes.' Even thinking about it makes me angry."

Ace looks away as he too processes Pet's response, "So you wouldn't hate them or want them dead?"

Pet shakes her head with a sad expression, "Hell no. A child is a completely independent person from their parents and should not be dragged into a war their father started." Pet stares off into the distance as she walks beside Ace, for once in her life she is unaware of a major secret right under her nose.

Pet sighs as they reach Dadan's, stopping along the way to pick up food. Ace was impressed with her ease in killing a crocodile and carrying it one handed back, before setting it down and allowing Dadan to take care of it. The whole time Pet made sure to maintain a calm air and not provoke the child, so far so good. She went inside to check on Luffy once more before coming out and sitting on the ground by the door. Tomorrow night she'll head back to really kick her mission into high gear. She wants to know what the nobles have planned, and she wants to know now.

Dadan finishes food and sets it out so the frenzy can begin, Pet leans over to get a look inside before another light smile graces her features. She sits with her legs crisscrossed as well as her arms over her massive bust. She sits right before standing and stretching, then she moves out. Walking into the now dark forest to find herself her own food. Once inside, she shifts and begins her hunt.

When Pet returns, she finds the house dark and quiet she jumps to her window and crawls in, so silent it's as though she isn't even there. Her eyes drift over the two sleeping boys and she takes up her usual position on the ledge leaning against the frame as she rests. In the morning is the usual routine, and Ace leaves with Luffy some distance behind trying to catch up as they both venture into the woods. Pet sighs and walks downstairs, she greets Dadan, she who has become friendlier around Pet, who returns the greeting and she informs her, "I have to head back today. When I can spare the time I'll visit for another few days."

Dadan looks up from her task, "When today?"

"Right now... See ya." Pet walks out as Dadan, a little slow, returns the salutations. Pet takes her time walking through the forest and she comes across Luffy coming back, towards the afternoon. He has some new injury and he runs up to her with a smile and she crouches beside him with a calm exterior as she says, "I have to head back, but I'll visit again soon, okay?"

Luffy nods with a smile and Pet pats his head and watches him go off towards Dadan's, she calls after him, "Keep at it and I know you'll catch up to him someday!"

He laughs before leaving her sight and Pet turns to continue walking towards the edge of the forest, _Wonder what kind of business Ace has here, near Gray Terminal._

_You know it can't be good. _

_As long as he hasn't killed anyone I'm good._

_Yeah me too. More power to him._

* * *

The people of Gray Terminal gave Pet wide berths as she walked by, she stopped. A group of men were huddled about complaining loudly of the kids who continue to steal their found treasures. Pet walked up to them clearing her throat as she went and weaving between the trash, they all gave her a guarded look, but she spoke with authority nonetheless, "What do these children look like?" Deciding collectively that telling her would do no more harm, they gave her a perfect description of Ace and another boy she's not familiar with, but apparently Ace is the worst. She nodded when they finished and turned about saying, "Thank you for your time."

Her eyes now yellow as she tracks Ace, trying to catch a whiff of some fresher scent. After a few minutes of walking about she discovers a fairly recent trail and she follows it, it heads back into the forest. Her eyes narrow slightly and she follows the trail before taking cover behind a massive tree trunk when she hears Ace and another child talking. Extending her claws she creeps up her tree silently while catching phrases of their conversation, "Those idiots..." "Too easy..." "enough money..." and then she stopped when she heard, "Pirate fund..."

Despite herself, she cracks a smile, _Hey hey, now. Don't go admiring them! You're supposed to make sure they become Marines!_

_But... That's so... cute._

_You. Disgust. Me._

_I can't help it, I'd hope others could follow their dreams too at least!_

_Blah Blah Blah, just cut your yappin' and go bust them._

Pet sighs as she stands looking out from behind the trunk, they're not too far from her, although she's higher than they are. Her eyes pass over the other boy, a blondy with a top hat and goggles at the brim and a blue over shirt with a navy blue undershirt and white scarf, with teal-ish shorts held up by a black belt with a bronze buckle. Pet knows a former noble when she sees one, but this one is different and he seems familiar. She wrinkles her nose as she takes a sniff and compares it with other nobles she's met. She wonders what he's doing out here and deduces he probably ran away, he doesn't fit in with the snobbish society to which he was born. Ace seems to be... (dare she say it) friends with the boy. Upon further observation she decides they're not only friends, but could also be described as partners... in crime, she adds with a snicker.

_Bust those little fuckers already!_

She frowns and ignores her demon before jumping to the other tree and clinging to the mossy bark. She looks over her shoulder at the boys below her, as she suspected... They didn't see. Awaiting the opportune moment to appear cool, she waits for them to say something and she'll repeat it as a question dropping in and surprising them. She nods to herself with an evil smile.

_Ahem... Pa-the-tic. So stupid._

_I never get to have any fun!_

_This is your definition of fun?_

She lets go of the bark and drops in landing on her feet then crouching and looking at the treasure trove while saying, "Nice stash you guys got here."

Ace and the other boy back away with extremely surprised expressions along, a tinge of horror, and is that dread she's picking up? She smiles at their now frozen faces, "How long did it take you guys to build this up?"

Ace regains composure first, now appearing entirely furious, "Why the hell do you care!? It's not yours!"

Pet frowns, "I know what's mine and not mine and you don't have to tell me that this isn't mine, I got that. I just asked a harmless question, now are you gonna answer me," she smirks, "Little boy." _Why are you provoking him!? _

_Just wait. He needs to know the hierarchy with me around and I'm on top!_

_... Damn Alpha Females._

Pet stands and looks to the blonde for an answer, he clears his throat and begins, "Not sure exactly..."

"Fine," Pet turns her serious gaze to Ace locking eyes with him in challenge, "That's a nice answer." Ace breaks away with a humph and Pet takes a seat letting her long legs hang off a branch, "I'm not gonna confiscate your money, jeez, I don't care about that kind of stuff. It's fine if it's for being pirates, I don't care about that either." She turns to Ace, "I'm not Garp." Ace looks skeptical and blondy smiles and Pet notices a chipped tooth, _how cute. _Pet asks him, "What's your name, kid?"

Said boy responds by puffing out his chest and stating, "Sabo." Pet cracks a smile, _definitely not like a noble. _

_You're a bad influence._

_Like you?_

_I'm looking out for us. Consider me the realistic-_

_Pessimistic more like._

_I offer another perspective bitch._

_You aggravate me constantly._

_For your own good._

Pet detects humor in her inner voice's tone. "So," she addresses both of the boys, "You guys have quite the reputation in Gray Terminal. You got your money by stealing?"

Ace smiles darkly, "Yep."

"Nice," Pet smiles looking off into the distance towards Gary Terminal, "Well good luck with that. I'll be heading off now." She jumps down landing sturdily on her feet and striding away with a small smirk, she turns slightly when Sabo calls, "Wait!" Pet continues smiling as Sabo asks confidently, "What's your name?"

She answers promptly as Ace comes up behind Sabo, "Call me Pet." Sabo nods smiling to himself and testing her name on his lips before she smiles and turns to walk away again towards Gray Terminal before she stops in her tracks once more when Sabo asks, "Why are you heading into Gray Terminal?"

"I have to go back to High Town for my mission." Pet turns facing them with a sigh and rolls her eyes while exclaiming, "Dealing with the nobility and all that."

Ace smirks, "Don't you like your job? Being a Marine? Isn't that why the old man wants you around us?"

Pet shrugs uncharacteristically letting her tiredness show for only a moment, "Who knows what that man is thinking. I don't think I'm here for instructing the youth. I'm still young..." Pet frowns in thought at her age...

Ace mocks, "Old Hag."

Pet defends her age with a humph and, "20 is still young, you little brat." _I feel older though..._

Ace smirks at getting a rise and Sabo laughs at the two quarreling in front of him. Pet sighs once more and she turns away from the two before Ace asks, "Why are you a Marine?"

Pet faces him with her serious face and he wills himself not to take a step back, "To protect the people I'm responsible for." Ace frowns before smirking and crossing his arms, turning his nose up at her, "Pirates are free. So I won't have those kinds of problems."

Pet smiles, _Good for you, _"I hope that works out for you, truly. My advice... Follow your dreams." Pet nods looking up and seeing the time that has passed, Hm. Then she tells the boys, "I really have to go boys, I'll visit again another time, okay?" They nod in response and she turns her back and finally gets to walk away, although she truly just wants to pass the day away like those children, dreaming... All she has now are nightmares.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Alrighty then! So that's another chapter finished and I hope I'm able to get the next one up but I have some research to do on this one part and no time to research it. Why did I take AP again? Follow, Favorite, Review please. Thank you. I hope ya'll enjoyed ;)


	8. Accepted

**Author's Note: **I sort of got it out on time? At least I'm trying...

Character's Included: **Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy, Sabo, Curly Dadan, Makino, Woop Slap, Monkey D. Garp, Bluejam, Porchemy**

No other character(s) mentioned.

* * *

Chapter 7

After evading the nobles' many attempts on her life, Pet really needed a vacation. Her underlings reporting in began to comment on her sullen attitude and her continuous sighing. She was even affecting Melia's usual cheery air. Pet was sick... sick of her job. To use hate to describe her feelings would be an understatement.

So Pet was practically pushed out of the Marine Division building and told she could take as long as she wanted off. She only sighed once more, _those nobles are getting to me._

_They really do make your life awful, huh._

_Yep, _Pet begins walking the streets with her hands in her pant pockets and her eyes to the floor, _wonder how the kids are doing._

_You haven't had anytime to go over there for three weeks! ... They're probably dead by now. You should go screw with the nobles to let off some steam... as in making them scream and beg for mercy._

*sigh*

Pet continued trudging through the various districts going from rich and wealthy to dirt poor buildings. Her eyes rarely went up to survey her surroundings. Then she heads through the gate and into Gray Terminal. They kicked her out around afternoon and she's been walking around for a few good hours, the sun is just beginning to go down when she stops in her tracks catching a fresh scent of Ace and Sabo. She looks about her before following her nose as the sun goes down. She comes across a shack laced with the boys' scents. She frowns as her nose recognizes another familiar smell... _blood?! Luffy!?_

_Told ya!_

She rushes to the shack and bursts in to find beaten pirates scattered about, she gets a lay of the land and deduces what happened before kicking the head guy who did the dirty work. With her foot on his throat she growls, "What did you do, exactly, to the boys that were here?"

He's choking beneath her foot and blood is trickling across his chin as he gurgles, drowning in it. She releases some pressure before he sputters, "Needed... Info... O-on money..."

A light bulb! Pet narrows her eyes, "Haven't you ever heard finders keepers, losers weepers? I smell their blood in here, even if they are strong enough to do this to you, you shouldn't pick on children." Pet applies more pressure before taking her foot off and turning to face a newcomer, a face she knows quite well, Bluejam. She nods to the beaten men around her, "These your guys?"

Bluejam has his entire face set in stone, as he gazes menacingly at her, the picture of supreme anger and annoyance. Pet is completely nonchalant and she truly does not care whether this guy is supposed to be a big deal... To her he's just a carcass to run her claws through. "I'm going to assume yes. I was just going to take these fuckers in or are you gonna do something to stop me."

Bluejam pulls out a revolver and simply guns Porchemy down. Pet nods still smirking as Bluejam points the gun at her, Pet cocks her head while rising a brow, "You sure you wanna play that game? Let me tell you," a yellow glint passes over her eyes, "I always win."

Bluejam smirks now, "I bet you know where those kids are, so no, I'm not going to kill you... But you're going to wish I did."

Pet snorts and tries to contain her laughter, but she bends over slapping her thigh and covering her mouth in laughter, "You- kehehe really talk big don't yeh?" She straightens, wiping a free tear before the atmosphere in the room changes and suddenly Pet is next to Bluejam a sword to his throat on either side, he'd already be beheaded if the nobles hadn't prohibited her from killing him. She knew he was important to their scheme, but she didn't know his part in it yet, so as far as she was concerned she could always kill him later. She presses the blades harder against his neck when he tries to move to look at her, after she clears her throat, "Here's how it's going to work, oh great Bluejam. You're going to leave those boys alone or I'm going to detach your head from your body, maybe pierce your heart, I could even slice your throat and watch you die, maybe torture a bit if I'm in the mood... Anyways keep your nose clean or expect me to find you and kill you in a hhmmmm colorful way, mind you, red is my favorite."

She sheathes her katana and brushes past him shoving her shoulder against his, only when he raises his gun once more does she kick it out and deal him a good left hook to cheek blinking as he blows away from the force. A heap of rubble falls atop him while his men have their guns pointed on her as well. One fake out sends their arms up in the air and she stalks out.

Back in Gray Terminal, she weaves about the trash heading into the forest before changing into her favorite spirit form, her wolf spirit form. She strides through the forest like nothing and within ten minutes is nearing Dadan's house. She changes into her human form still running and with a great leap she's inside through the window landing on the bottom of the sill, silent as a feather. She smiles to herself, after she sees the three boys sleeping on the ground together. She steps in and leans back contented. She falls into a light sleep and awakens when Dadan enters the room in the morning commenting on the new addition and the bandages.

A very comical occurrence to Pet, but she keeps a straight face before emerging from her corner and saying, "I'm sure it'll be fine." Dadan starts at the sight of her and asks how long she's been there and where has she been?!

Pet replies, her calm gaze still on the trio, "I was busy with being a Marine and I've been here since eehhhh a little after midnight." She turns back to Dadan with a polite smile and the two women walk out to begin chores. The boys soon awaken later and rush to the forest after calling to Dadan about Bluejam, but they suddenly come to an abrupt halt at the sight of Pet and run over all with smiles and greetings and questions. Pet sweat drops at their behavior, but accepts their warmth and mirth. She greets them all in return and answers any questions before they begin pulling her with them to play fight... They call it training, but Pet sees it for what it is. It's more for the purpose of fun she thinks than getting stronger.

Dadan shakes her head at the scene of the boys dragging her off, of course, if Pet didn't want to go she could easily take them, but this was part of her assignment to staying on the island.

She watched the boys' fights with Ace and Sabo coming off in a tie, but then Ace challenges Pet to a fight. Pet smirks, "You sure about that chibi?'

She stands and positions herself to face him, she waits for him to come to her and he does charge in to punch her, but she easily redirects it to the side with one hand and as his own force is used against him he lands with an "oof" on the ground beside her. She walks next to him before turning and awaiting him to come back in a fit of rage, but his attempt is made with the same result. The next time he comes she lets it connect, but his punch is weak to her, in response he smirks before he looks up to her still calm face and watches as she sighs, "Sorry kid, you're not ready to take me on yet." Ace seems extremely angry at this development.

Pet looks at the other two watching and asks, "You guys want to try your luck?" No answer. "I thought not."

Later, the boys insist Pet go with them into town because Ace wants to show them something in High Town, which Pet does not believe is a good idea, but she's ignored when she voices her fears and they go anyway. They are walking through Edge Town with the boys disguised as one man towing a crocodile they killed while Pet stands back and lets them deal with it, she figured it'd be good training for them. Plus, they would have told her to back off if she stepped in. The four are stopped by some bandits looking for a fight and when they notice Pet's Marine coat they seem enraged and get in her face with a knife to her throat, she smiles widely, but inside, _I'm sorry the world is so fucked up, that too many people are criminals in it... All because of the government and my ancestor's who couldn't win the war._

Pet twists the man's hand behind himself throwing him and dealing a nice kick to his face to knock him out for a few days, and she was even kind enough to give him a comfy place to rest, what with the wall he burst through. The boys finished their fight and stood gaping at the wall now torn down in a nearby building. Pet turns to them after admiring her own work and, to the boys, she orders, "Back in the disguise boys."

They comply and follow Ace's instructions before coming to a food place in High Town Pet recognizes. She also recognizes that she can't afford this place, none of them can... Well, except for Sabo, if he were to use his Noble money, Pet's sure. So they head inside and get in after Sabo shows the insignia of his family, Pet raises a brow, but then he offers a lie to explain how they got in.

Pet positions herself by the window and watches the town bustling below. The kids continue ordering many bowls of ramen and the lady kindly hands one to Pet, who takes it with a nod of thanks and gets to eating and occasionally fending off the ravenous little boys when they finish theirs. Pet sighs at their antics after she finishes and watches the poor waitress lady constantly have to come back to give them more and then officially they discover the children. In response, the kids bolt while Pet stays and tells the owner to calm down while he shouts obscenities at her and threatens to tell her higher ups, but Pet, holding up her hands to calm the man down, sighs once more and states very calmly with icy precision, "I am the higher up and I'm trying to tell you who you can bill for this."

The man calms still fuming and crosses his arms while waiting for her answer while she smirks and spouts off the name of her biggest contender among the nobles. The owner nods familiar with the name and goes to complete the transaction while Pet asserts, "Now if you'll excuse me I have some boys to catch up with." And with that she jumps out the window and follows their scent. She hops onto the buildings' roofs and runs across those, it's faster what with the bustling streets and all. She catches up in no time and flips over landing on her powerful legs and reducing her speed immensely to stay with her charges. They notice her running with them, suddenly, and Luffy asks, "Eeeehhh, How did you get there?"

Pet, surprisingly sounds as though this running business were merely a walk in the park, replies, "I'm fast." She keeps pace with the boys when they finally make their way through Gray Terminal and back into the safety of the forest. She remains standing, while Luffy and the others continue to pant and get their heartbeat back down to normal levels. Pet can hear them clear as day. Thus, Ace asks Sabo about the man who called out to him and who he is. Pet raises a brow and turns her gaze upon Sabo who passes her a glance before looking at his two friends, at first, he doesn't want to say, but the boys gang up on him and he agrees, but he looks at Pet and claims, "You might take me back if you find out about me."

Pet shakes her head, "No, I've known Sabo, now tell your friends, they deserve to know too." Sabo's eyes widen slightly while Ace and Luffy look between the two and Sabo recounts his sad childhood. Pet takes a seat to listen and when he's finished of course Ace and Luffy don't care about it. Pet looks on as the boys make their pact to be free pirates when they're older and Luffy to be pirate king which earns a smile from their Marine friend. Later on, Sabo brings up the issue of Pet's knowledge of his past, "How did you know about me?"

Pet taps her nose, "I could smell it." She chuckles as Sabo narrows his eyes at her, in disbelief, while Ace and Luffy stop bickering for a moment to listen in.

Sabo says, "Seriously."

Pet smiles wide, "Yeah. I think I've come in contact with your dad before and the scent between family tends to be similar in a lot of ways. It was mostly the scent than your clothes or manner." Pet nods to herself while her onlookers remain skeptical.

Luffy chimes in, "You must have a really strong nose!"

Ace asks, "How does that happen? Did you train it? Were you born with it?"

Pet laughs outright, "No, I have a Devil fruit." That statement completely grabs her audience of children and they prod her for answers while Ace states sassily, "That doesn't seem like a very cool power."

Pet continues smiling, "That's not the only power, it comes with a whole package deal. I ate the Moon-Moon Fruit it's commonly mistaken for a Zoan type but it's actually Paramecia, the moon brings out my... sort of like a spirit animal... It's all about the beast that's hidden within me and brings it out, it changes my body... specially when the moon is out. It's almost like magic." The boys nod their heads together and in unison, "I see, I see."

(A/N: Now to explain fully; The energy of the moon is heightened within Pet and creates a separate being that characterizes a personality hidden inside her and it makes it corporeal, sort of. It gives it conscience. The shape it takes for Pet is a wolf, a black one that changes depending on her uses for it and her needs, almost like a Zoan, but it's the personality within that's being expressed not just some animal, making it more of a Paramecia. More powers of this fruit will be shown later on in the story. Thank you)

Pet face palms while shaking her head. So instead of explaining, she smiles and faster than the eye can see she's in the air shifting and lands back as her wolf spirit form. The boys jump away while Pet shakes her massive body and her yellow eyes stare into the hearts of the young boys, Luffy recovers first commenting on how awesome her power is, while Ace recognizes her wolf form with a twitch of wonder. Sabo merely begins smiling wide.

Pet's throat rumbles as she chuckles and Luffy climbs atop her broad shoulders smiling and clutching her fur before commanding, "Onward!" Pet plays along and begins moving forward, she doesn't falter or stop when Ace and Sabo hop on, their own childish impulses getting the better of them. Pet makes sure they're holding on when she stops and they complain before bursting forth with a tremendous amount of power and speed, the shift doesn't affect her, but her riders feel as though they forgot their stomachs ten miles behind. She weaves through the trees with such grace that disturbs nothing, scenting the air as she goes and avoiding any dangerous obstacles she knows the boys will want to take on. They regained their wits and are currently having the time of their young lives watching every thing go by so fast, yet slow at the same time, as if Pet is sharing her power with them. After some time, Pet changes it up a bit and hops from trunk to trunk gaining altitude with each before running from branch to branch. The branches have no time to register if they will break under their combined weight, she's just that fast.

Finally, she grins as her target location comes in sight. The boys don't realize, but they're about to head for the ravine one has cross to get to Gray Terminal from Dadan's. When they do, they don't fret, but urge Pet forward and she jumps down from the branches onto the forest floor absorbing the force in her toned legs and running before taking that leap across the ravine. The river, so far below, flows under them and she soon lets her paws brush across the ground of the other side and slows to a trot.

The boys are whooping atop her and exclaiming many things such as: "Aaawwweesssooommmeee!" "WOW!" "That was so cool!" "I could get used to this!"

Pet shakes her head to loosen up a bit while continuing now at a walk. At some point, the children begin begging for her to run again before Sabo gets an idea and they whisper to each other thinking Pet can't hear, but she practically has super hearing in this form.

"You know wolves hunt right?"

"I like where this is headed."

"She's a Wolf!? I thought she was a big Dog!"

Sabo and Ace both shush Luffy, and Sabo continues, "I want to see her hunt."

Ace smirks, "Yeah."

Pet sighs internally, _I could do with some hunting._

_You just want to kill and make the blood flow. Take a life._

_Is there any other reason to hunt? We'll drink the blood and eat the meat so as not to waste anything, but we can at least enjoy it while we do it._

_That sounds... pretty reasonable._

So, when Sabo brings up his request, with the backing of his friends, Pet nods her head in agreement. She licks her chops in agitation and her claws dig into the ground as she walks. She scents the area and follows the trail silently, the only noise comes from the passengers on her back. She spots her prey, a big ram strangely having saber-tooth teeth and the markings of a zebra with hooves. She shrugs off the wonder as it most definitely counts as food. She gets into hunter's crouch keeping low, even though the beast is twice her size, which is saying something because she's very large.

Stiffening completely, the energy builds in her legs before pouncing with claws extended onto the mammal's back and absorbing the shock to keep her younger riders safe. She jumps from its back with it beneath her as she gains on its head and it faces her with wild eyes, as it determines an animalistic fight response, but she's ready for it. She slides down the bark of a nearby tree to slow her fall before she witnesses its head coming in to crush her. She maneuvers her back to the side while pushing off and letting it ram into the massive trunk. Then she rushes in, toppling it on it's side and digging/dragging her razor claws across it's neck and letting it fall as it experiences death. She howls due to instinct, the wolf's way is to honor the dead and celebrate the battle's victory.

Inwardly, she chuckles as Luffy, Ace, and Sabo begin to howl with her in their celebration and they hop off, talking excitedly over one another. She sits back on her haunches looking down at them in amusement, she changes back with a smile. They're still talking all at once and she waits while barely paying attention to their statements. She clears her throat finally as the sun is beginning to go down, they stop and she tells them, "We should be getting back. I'll carry our prey home." The boys nod in agreement while still smiling, even Ace has that twinkle in his eyes. She picks up the food, easily, only using one hand and they begin the walk home.

The boys occasionally start up their statements of admiration and Pet smiles wholeheartedly at the children behaving, well, like children. They reach Dadan's house late and the boys go inside while Pet helps cook the meat. Dinner arrives a little later, but Pet leans on the door frame as the feeding frenzy begins, a small smile etched on her face. She's shocked when they start throwing food her way and telling her to eat, Pet frowns slightly before the boys and Dadan scold her for being rude in not accepting their hospitality. Pet looks away, suddenly feeling heavy, before beginning to eat and the onlookers smile. Unbeknownst to everyone, a small tear falls down Pet's cheek...

After she gets over her emotions and buries them once more, she walks into the fray and joins the frenzy. After some time the food becomes more for entertainment than hunger as there is so much of it around. The boys throw bones with meat on them at Pet so she can catch them in her wolf form. The sound from her jaws snapping together results in an oddly thrilling chomp sound. Each bounce is more agile with a new acrobatic move to add flair to her catching the food. The boys tire out and Pet's furry body welcomes them as she lays down. They curl up around her, as well as atop her. If she were a cat, she'd be purring. Pet rises carefully while the boys in their sleepy states cling to her like burrs and she heads up to their room and lies down, jostling nothing in her grace.

She awakens by the boys pulling her now human arms to try to wake her up. She opens her eyes to Luffy and Sabo tugging her up, a quick sweep of the vicinity shows that Ace is not present. She stands and the boys fall to the floor with "oof"s. She smiles down at them before pulling them up. She changed back to human in her sleep, apparently. After getting her bearings, Sabo grabs her attention with "Let's go Pet!" They lead her out of the house and running towards the forest with Luffy slightly behind. Pet doesn't help him so he'll push himself to grow strong. They head not very far into the forest before slowing to a walk and Pet raises a brow at the small crate in a very small sandy clearing with trees on all sides. There awaits Ace and... a bottle of sake? Ace is smiling triumphantly and orders Pet and his friends to gather around. All the boys stand while Pet sits so she's more at their level. Ace begins pouring the drinks into red sake cups, there are four.

He wears a wide smile and Pet has one quirked eyebrow to show her interest. It raises when he says, "I got this from Dadan's supply... It is said that when pirates share sake that they become brothers, but in Pet's case, sister..." Pet is handed hers and she stares at the liquid her voice caught in her throat. _My heart hurts._

_Just accept their gift._

_They don't even think of it as a gift..._

They all toast and Pet halts before the boys drink theirs and she downs hers before looking at the cup once more. Ace smiles, "From this day forward we're brothers... and sister." Pet smiles before putting the cup down and standing to her full height towering over her new... brothers. _I barely know what it is to have brothers?_

_Forget about your previous family, I say you rewrite your definition and base it on these boys. They're doing it right!_

_I suppose so... Ugh! I need to think, this is so unexpected._

Pet shakes her head as the boys try to pull her along once more, before she stops completely and tells them, "I'll catch up with you guys alright?" Before they can answer, she's gone. She walks about the forest for a while before finding herself in the clearing of the small crate and red sake cups, she picks hers up just memorizing the shape and color and then looking at the others in all their detail. She sighs before heading to Dadan with the glass bottle and putting it back where she assumes Ace found it. Then she heads out once more, Dadan and the other bandits witnessed her change in demeanor and got the message to leave her in peace.

_What am I expected to do as a sister?_

_Do I have to draw you a picture or something?_

_Maybe? This means responsibility right? As the older... sibling..._

_Oh, now she's gettin it. Basically, don't do what your brothers did. So watch over them, teach them, give them attention and above all... Protect Them._

Pet stops in her tracks as she realizes, _I never want them to get hurt._

_So what are you going to do about it?_

A challenge clear and simple that burns through Pet's core and the fire envelopes her completely traveling through her veins, winding and twisting forming into a molten lava, her resolve, _I will _kill anyone who dares threaten them and make them pay tenfold._.. They will follow their dreams and I'll be watching not over their shoulder, but from afar always ready to step in to help them. __Now that I have family to truly protect their will be none who can face me and LIVE._ Pet begins her maniacal laughter, her eyes glinting yellow and her fangs a pearly white.

"Now to get drunk!" She smiles, "I've got to celebrate!" She runs past trees in her human form, surprisingly, but certain specified features appear animalistic. She's not as fast as in her wolf form, but still very fast. She's almost too high on life right now or deluding herself that she is.

Drink after drink, she downs them all just trying to get drunk, she drinks anything she can find with the occasional, _You're pushing it!_

_Stop!_

Drink

_Why are you doing this to this extent?! This is uncalled for!_

Drink, Drink, Drink. Pet smiles with her head against the table, _Its all too good to be true! Something bad is going to happen and I'm preparing myself for it._

_You don't know that!?_

_Oh but I do, the way of the world. I've lived in this world long enough to know what to expect. Murphy's Law; What ever can go wrong, will go wrong._

_You called me the pessimistic one! Fucking brat! Get over yourself and quit worrying about shit that probably won't happen!_

_Ya see, _Pet arises and pours another drink, _with my all seeing eye and super intelligence, I'll be the one to predict what goes on and the likeliness of it all. So shut your fucking mouth! If anyone around this town can come close to predicting the future, it's me cuz I have math and all that shit. Not just any math and shit, but THE SHIT. I've got it all! _Pet downs her drink and slams the cup down breaking the glass in her hand, but she's not cut. She merely stares at her hand, _I don't know when and I don't know why, but something will take these children from me... my... brothers._

_You fucking good for nothing little wimp! Instead of moping about and trying to be rid of your intelligence, you pompous bitch, try actually deciding to do something about it. Never settle for that outcome! What happened to the fire from earlier! We were almost on the same side!_

_Tch, fuck you! Even I'm not so naive to think that I can prevent anything and everything-_

_Try..._

_What?_

_Don't give up before you've tried. You may not know what will happen, but don't see it as an inevitable outcome... You're making it inevitable if you believe it is, even when you don't know what it is!_

_I-_

A touch to Pet's arm brings her attention down to a concerned face of a child with many freckles and black scraggly hair. She frowns as he starts nonchalantly, "We were worried so we all went searching for you." Pet sighs, "I've been here." Ace surveys the area with a critical eye and Pet looks around as well before sighing at the idea that it's a bar she's in. She stands off the chair and Ace grabs her hand to pull her out into the town. She continues frowning, but barely notices what goes past her in her semi drunken state. She never suffered the unbalance of being drunk, her movements are always graceful even more so during a full moon.

She merely reacts to those around her as they enter the forest and come to what Pet supposes is a rendezvous point for her brothers' little search party. She smiles, subconsciously, before Ace stops and lets go of her hand and responding to Sabo and Luffy's "You found her!" "Awesome!" "Where was she?" Ace smirks despite his worry, "I found her in town... in a bar..." Pet takes a seat up against one of the nearby trees and kicks back, crossing her arms and shutting her eyes. The boys crowd around her before Luffy asks, "Is it time for a nap?"

"It is for me," Pet responds, still with closed eyes.

Sabo asks, "Why were you in a bar?"

"Felt like drinking." _Thought you were 'celebrating'? Brat..._

Ace and Sabo exchange looks before, as children are capable of doing, letting it go with a shrug and smiles before joining Luffy who curled up with Pet and they all take a nap. Pet awakens first, with the effects of her alcoholism wearing off. Her eyes watch the sleeping forms of her new little brothers breathing and snoring, _maybe that sake they drank is effecting them?_

_Maybe..._

Pet looks to the sky and decides they have a few good hours more of daylight before she shifts somewhat sore from her rigid position, although Luffy found his way under one of her arms so she hugs him to her. She smiles lightly before gently waking them all up with ruffled hair. Luffy proves to be the hardest because he's just so comfortable and Ace and Sabo sit up rubbing their eyes and smacking their lips together before looking at Pet and growing wide smiles, "Oh Pet!" Sabo says.

"We were thinking about something and we wanted your opinion!" Ace smiles, as much as he's able for a depressed child.

Pet smirks as she asks, "Well, what is it?"

Sabo jumps in, "We're going to leave Dadan's and make a base in the forest!" Pet frowns for a moment, calculating, before the smile returns after only three seconds, "I think that's a wonderful idea, but why do you want to leave Dadan's? What do you have planned so far?"

Ace cuts in once more, puffing his chest out, "Pirates are the freest people in the world and we can't stay with Dadan because of it."

"And Bluejam could go looking for us there!" Sabo continues, "We were thinking of one spot in the forest to make our base, but you get a say too, you're our sister after all."

Pet looks between the two before deciding, "I'll go with whatever you guys decide. I have to be heading back to work soon anyways, but I'll probably be able to visit more frequently if you wish." The brothers exchange looks before turning to her and nodding. Pet stands grabbing Luffy by the back of his shirt and putting him at her shoulders before shifting to her animal spirit form. Ace and Sabo don't have to be told to get on for a hunt. She decides to let them do the hunting, Luffy wakes up quick atop of her, all to enjoy the ride.

When they get back, Pet carries the alligator one handed while the boys stand on top of their catch. They noticed, after a while going through the forest, being indirectly carried by Pet, well Ace and Sabo noted, _She's strong! _While all Luffy was thinking was_ Awesome! Food!_ He was drooling slightly.

Pet helped with the cooking and cleaned up a bit with Dadan before chowing down with the others and laughing, just having a good time with her family. Pet smiles at Dadan's treatment of the boys, because she understands how she truly cares for them. In the morning, Pet keeps the pace with the children, but she comes back later in the day only to find the mayor of the Windmill Village and that one bartender she saw that one day. They seem surprised to see her and Luffy is excited to see the woman. Pet walks up and gives a nod of acknowledgement to each before introducing herself, "I don't think we've formally met yet, I am Commodore Pet." She finds the woman to be named Makino and the mayor is called Woop Slap. She smiles to each giving their names before they begin asking her questions about why she's there and what not, but she keeps the answers short and vague. "Vice Admiral Garp left me here for some work at the Marine division here."

Makino nods with a polite smile plastered on her face and Pet gets the feeling she's thinking of other things regarding her stationing at this island. Pet works with the family in setting up dinner and listens to Luffy, Ace, and Sabo discussing their future careers as pirates before Pet smiles as Garp's silhouette appears in the door. She smiles up to the point he gives his fist of love, then her smile disappears and she's held back by her inner spirit, _No! You idiot! Of all the times to lash out and thirst for blood! You shouldn't thirst for his blood, over some children getting some sense knocked into them!_

Pet tries to calm herself down before Garp growls at her, "You're supposed to be making them into Marines!"

Pet's, previously closed, eyes open and she stands face to face with her superior, the air seems to crackle with their clashing energies. Garp holds his gaze for a period before bursting out laughing, _What!? _He continues laughing until he has to wipe a tear away and then Pet cocks her head. The others copy her movement.

_I just openly showed defiance!... And he's laughing now!_

_Must be your lucky day._

Garp stops laughing as if remembering something he forgot before he begins berating the children and Dadan, while leaving Pet out of the conversation, Pet leans against a wall, as if in a stupor, while the place becomes an even bigger mad house. She's vaguely aware of Makino and Woop Slap leaving. She's shocked out of her daze when Garp orders her to, "Come with me. We're going for a walk."

Pet follows and notices the wreckage of a Garp outburst, she smiles slightly before turning forward and noticing Garp looking behind him, at her, grinning. They walk side by side after Pet catches up and then Garp smiles wide and notes, "You're walking next to me, instead of behind me like usual."

Pet frowns, "Yeah..."

Garp shakes his head, "Being here did you good. Do you know the real reason I wanted you here?"

Pet cocks her head and analyzes his statement and question then the conversation beforehand and nodding to herself states, "Yes, I think I do now." Garp barks laughter while motioning her to continue, so she does, "You wanted to humanize me by making me spend time with the children..." Pet pauses as her train of thought carries on its merry way before she states matter-of-fact, "It'll backfire somehow though. Either in your favor or in my favor, maybe even both. That's the way of the world."

Pet finishes solemnly and even Garp grows serious at her prediction and he thinks back to her challenging stance before cracking that D smile, "Maybe, but to me, you're all brats who need to be taught lessons." He laughs boisterously once more while Pet cracks her own smile and laughs slightly.

The two walk for a while through the woods before Pet stops and Garp turns to her cocking a brow, Pet clears her throat before boldly asserting, "I can't make those kids Marines, Vice Admiral Garp. I truly believe that I can't and also... I don't want to. I won't tell them what's so great about being a Marine, they have it in their minds to be pirates. Those are their dreams and I won't corrupt a child's dream."

Pet meets Garp's gaze square on before he turns from her, "I never thought you could or would anyways. Don't worry about it, it's my job to protect them, ultimately. Anything that happens to them falls on me."

Pet frowns before he begins walking anew, but she remains and he waves while moving forward. She looks at the ground before turning back, _It's partly my job now too._

_He wouldn't understand that._

_They look to me as their older sister now, meaning I'm now employed in their protection as well... If anything happens to them, then I share the blame._

_I think you would do a better job than he would anyways. After all... You Have Me._

Pet tches as she walks, _because you're so great._

_I am, I really am._

Pet hops through the window before she finds her brothers waiting up for her. They inform her of their plan to escape because of the Garp encounter and speed up their previous plans of finding another place in the forest to live. Pet sighs and nods before sitting up against the wall just below the window while her younger siblings all fall fast asleep.

Early in the morning, before the sun has come out she opens her eyes to the boys getting up and creeping out while she simply jumps out the window. She follows them as it starts to rain and they all move to take shelter awaiting the rain to cease. When things finally clear up, Sabo comes out with his plans and the boys decide on one of the biggest trees in the forest. Pet helps in gathering things from the Gray Terminal to build their base. Pet enjoys the tree and, using her expertise in all things, she builds a nice tree house for her younger brothers. They share the work, afterwards, Pet gets to look out to the sea from their height before the boys begin a game of pirates and they get Pet to join in asking her to play the Marine so she begins chasing them around, "Pirates! Not on my watch!"

They have fun being chased and Pet easily dodges their blows when they attempt to fight the Marines before she feigns defeat and falls over. The mini pirates proclaim their victory as continuing their freedom to roam the seas and collect treasure. Pet pulls herself up and Luffy asks, "Are there many strong Marines like you and jichan out there?"

Pet smiles, "Yeah there are many ranks of Marines and so far there are only three with the title of Admiral and one who is the Fleet Admiral. They're probably supposed to be the strongest of the Navy Forces. But there are many powerful pirates out there as well." The kids all sit down to listen and boast about how they're going to be the strongest pirates out there when they become pirates. Pet nods, "You'll all be very strong when you're older, definitely." Pet stands as the sun begins its downward trek below the horizon, she sighs, "I have to go back to my mission in town now boys." They all frown and begin whining at her to stay longer, they pull at her arms and she crouches and wraps them all in a hug, "I'll be back soon. I promise." She then stands and waves goodbye as they do before stepping off the ledge of the tree and landing on the forest floor silently.

When she gets back to her division building and inside, Melia rushes her looking flustered, "Commodore! The nobles have called and want a meeting with you!"

Pet takes a step back before reverting to her business-like self and nods, turning to walk out. _They haven't asked for a formal meeting since I told them off that first day I was here._

_Watch yourself Pet. They're planning something._

__No shit, Sherlock, they probably have many plans for me. Plans for payback and their plans in preparing for the Celestial Dragon's arrival.__

* * *

**Author's End Note:** There ya go! Beware the next chapter's release date because I still have a lot I need to write for it. Review, Follow, Favorite, it keeps me motivated. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	9. The Storm on the Horizon

**Author's Note: **I am so sorry this is late! I was so stupid and wasn't paying attention when I accidentally hit 'discard' instead of 'save'. So yeah... Sorry. I'm going to really power through the next chapter this weekend so I can get it out to you sooner and start working on the one I should be working on next week.

Phew! Okay... I should probably **warn **you all that at the end of the chapter it's very vivid with gore and blood. So don't say I didn't **warn** you.

Characters present in this chapter: **Monkey D. Dragon**(He'll be more prominent next chapter though)

Yeah this is really an OC based chapter, sorry if you wanted more characters you know. There are mentions of **ASL**

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 8

Darkness is upon her as Pet steps up to the noble's house, the one from before, and she is let in by a familiar face from her tracings of the nobles from this house. A younger woman, Pet discovered her name was Tabitha, who she found out to be in her late twenties, but not too late. Pet retains her stoic features as she brushes past, and on the walk to the meeting room from before, she steels herself to take whatever the nobles intend to dish out. She really just wants to let her animal self out and have a massacre, _not like these bastards don't deserve it._

Lady Tabitha rushes to catch up with Pet's long strides and Pet almost smirks at the look of annoyance that passes over her supposed superior's face, but she withholds it. The brunette takes the lead and signals her arrival to the others upon entrance, Pet almost gags out of disgust for these sleazy people. She notes the older woman standing next to Sir Ruben, the man in charge as far as Pet could tell. Pet cannot identify the woman, but she understands that behind every great man, there's his woman. Pet plasters on a polite smile as they all somewhat acknowledge her, but have no idea that she's able to see the looks of disdain crossing their features and she fights the urge to wrinkle her nose at their smell, the smell of plastic people.

Ruben greets her, but his smile almost seems like a smirk, _Watch out Pet._

_I know._

Ruben begins, "Oh Commodore! How pleasant of you to arrive so promptly, we didn't expect you to be so soon." Pet forces her smile to grow in acknowledgement of his comment before he continues, "Now you said before, that you would inform us if your mission here had anything to do with us and we have many plans to prepare for the blessed ones arrival. So we'd like to be aware of any of your doings during this time."

Pet replies calmly, "I did say that didn't I, how keen of you..." The nobles frown at her remark while she curses herself inwardly, _Damn and here I'm supposed to be kissing up, shit! _

_HAHAHA no keep making them frown it's funny! Just shoot em down one by one until there's nothing left but hollow shells!_

Pet ignores the voice and continues on while thinking through her next words carefully, "My mission pertains to the Celestial Dragon's arrival and my superiors would like to know all plans you may have in the works, so we can monitor them for efficiency and alter them for more beneficial results on both parts. They want to be informed of any measures they may have to take later, so the Navy can be proactive in your dealings."

Pet holds her breath as the hag next to Ruben starts to giggle, a hint of evil is detected in her pitch as she shrills, "hehe Silly little Marine. It would be better if you stayed out of our business. We've already come up with our plans in preparing for the great one's visit. You see, we nobles within this very room have been chosen to take care of everything and we won't be changing our plans. Although..." She smirks, "Your people will still be expected to straighten up anything if, say, every one of our plans don't go accordingly, but still, our only concern is for our benefit, not yours!"

_Can I kill her?_

_I would say yes but then... Nah fuck it, do it! Kill her!_

_Old people should never giggle like school girls it makes them seem like sluts... or cougars._

_Nah I think this may just be one of those rare cases where she seems like she gets around despite her age._

_Really, you think so?_

Pet frowns in thought, but she goes back to her polite smile once she realizes they may think she disapproves and she's already on their blacklist... she assumes. Ruben clears his throat, "Now, now, Reina don't be that way to the poor young marine... After all, she's only doing as she's told," he smiles wide, Pet stifles a shudder as he continues, "Now precious Commodore, merely think of our objective as taking out the trash."

For a second Pet narrows her eyes as it clicks, but it reverts afterwards and the nobles never suspect a thing. She holds back a snarl as Sir Ruben finishes with, "Go be a loyal Marine and do as your told. Stay out of matters that don't concern you, run along now."

Pet rigidly sees herself out and once the front door is closed behind her, she clenches her fists so hard they bleed from her hands, _oh, how I want to destroy and ravage this whole town. Paint it in the blood of this scum, these outrages, these poor excuses for human beings!_

_Yeah! Do it! I agree!_

Pet calms as she sighs before her skin prickles slightly and she looks up and back at the house, from whence she came, only to see the movement of the shades as if someone were watching her beforehand. She scents the air, but can detect nothing unusual. She's halfway down the street when Lady Tabitha calls her back for a moment.

Pet asks, "Is there something more?"

Tabitha smiles with a camera in her hands before informing her, "Yes, we would like a snapshot of you for the paper."

Pet is skeptical, but stands all stoic with a scowl as Tabitha takes the picture before Tabitha heads back not uttering a word of thanks. Pet narrows her eyes at the woman's retreating form, _she was lying..._

_Duh!_

Pet turns slowly thinking before beginning her maneuvers in losing a tail so she can make a call.

_Pet... you know they wo-_

_I can still try. They might do something to help those people..._

_By trash they meant..._

_The Gray Terminal._

_Ace, Luffy, and Sabo spend a lot of time there..._

_If the Navy won't help me, then I'll have to take care of it myself..._

_No! Just care for your own... your brothers... Those people don't better society it wouldn't be so bad for them to perish._

_The nobles are no different. They have no right._

_There's nothing you can do on your own._

_...I know..._

Pet finishes her maneuvers, deciding she's safe and she picks a secluded roof top before pulling out her den den mushi and contacting her correspondent, his cool voice reaches her ears in no time, "Password."

Pet answers methodically, "Commodore Pet 001592 Alpha."

"Report."

"I have discovered some information regarding the noble's scheme for the Celestial Dragons. They are going to 'take out the trash' meaning their plans involve Gray Terminal. They've also made it very clear that they won't forgo their objective."

"Noted. Anything else?"

"No."

"Your orders are to stand down. Frankly, nobody's going to miss the trash in Gray Terminal."

Pet remains unfazed, she prepared herself for the worse and she finishes, "Aye sir."

**-gacha-**

Pet looks at the small den den mushi in her hands, her face crinkled in thought as she decides something. _I can't save all those people without being caught..._

_Glad to see you've accepted it._

_...There's still one contact I have that might be able to do something about this..._

_...you don't mean... No! Not him! Not Them!_

_I have to try._

She looks around and places her baby mushi at a corner facing the wall while stretching and very loudly exclaiming, "This seems like a great place to sleep for the night." Pet did not intend to go to sleep, instead she silently left the small snail and redid her maneuvers to throw off any pursuers, just in case. She doubted she had any tails on her, but she knew certain actions on her part had to be done, in order to be safer than if she just said to fuck it all. She found a very expensive restaurant and using her tracking skills and detective tendencies, she acquired another baby den den mushi to which she would use to make another call. She glanced once over her shoulder at the snob she had borrowed it from and memorized her face for when she returned it.

She then turned down an alley and cast her wolf senses outward. She found nothing out of place and dialed the number she had memorized many years ago.

She watched with a solemn face as the snail began, **purupuru-**ing before the **-gacha- **causes her to close her eyes taking a deep breath before a familiar male voice reaches her ears, "Hello?"

"...it's me..."

The snail's face portrays shock before reverting to calmness, "Are you finally coming for me?"

"Never was going to come for you... I need you to get a message to... Dragon for me..."

Snail drops its mouth, "W-why would you n-need that!? Are you Marines planning something?"

Pet sighs, "Cut the crap, I'm in Goa Kingdom, a Celestial Dragon will be visiting soon, I'm sure your people have heard and well, the nobles here are planning something with Gray Terminal. They're going to clean up the trash... There are people that live there... I've been ordered to stand down, not that I could take care of this myself... My hands are tied."

The man on the other line frowns in thought, "Why won't you join us?"

"I have my reasons."

"You don't seem to understand our cause... actually, no, scratch that, you do understand and I think you sympathize with it, so why don't you help us. You'd be a valuable asset."

"That's what everyone says. Just get your people down here. I can't risk those reasons any more than I have."

"Be careful."

**-gacha-**

Pet face-palms and makes a pained expression before she sneakily returns the snail and heads back to her own to lay on the rooftop looking up at the stars, lost in her memories.

* * *

Pet was fifteen and still ranked a Commander when she was sent to a warring country to take out some well known Revolutionaries. She received the mission, stoically as always and caught a ride with a Captain headed there with some reinforcements. She sat by herself caring for her yin and yang blades while some other lower ranked Marines gawked at her. She was beginning to make a name for herself and they recognized her description: a tall woman with brown hair and a Commander coat draped over her shoulders, always seen carrying a white and black blade strapped to her back. Pet sits in her own thoughts meticulously cleaning her precious blades while going over her plan in her head.

When they dock at the specified country, Pet is invited to a meeting to update the newcomers although the higher ranked officials know that she probably has other reasons for being present in the land, they've heard the stories too. Pet treats them all formally and easily intimidates the men and any woman with her calm and collected aura. She reeks of authority, but she notes they change in their demeanor after discovering her presence in the land, they become more confident knowing she's on their side. _Fools._

She learns of the situation and when they ask her, "So where will you be headed?"

"I have another mission here. I will not be participating in the war directly." With that dismissal, she heads out, leaving some confused and disappointed faces in her wake. It's eerie how barren the towns and neighborhoods are as she walks through them. She surveys the obvious signs of war before she finds a nice place to hide her Navy coat for the moment and changes into some jeans and a tank top that shows off her muscles. She doesn't want anyone to recognize her when she comes in. Nobody knows of the scars on her right shoulder and the slashes down her stomach and back. The tank top displays parts of those on her torso while showing off her white shoulder scar plainly to the world. She received all her scars during her childhood and most on the night she fell into the ocean.

She follows the trail of war to the current position and plunges into the fray, avoiding both sides as a way of getting past them before she can begin spying on the side backed by the Revolutionaries. She's sad that she has to assassinate them, but her responsibility to her family leads her onward.

She walks through the deserted streets aware for anything and everything and ducking out of sight whenever she comes across Revolutionaries, she is in their territory, after all. She does some reconnaissance before deciding to change into the gear that she apprehended from a now dead one. She made sure it was quick and painless, the poor woman would have never found out she was dead. Pet did feel sorry for her and dipped her head in respect and acknowledgement at this person's death, sorrow filled her for a moment at stealing this woman's future from her, but she cut it out on returning to the job.

Pet finally reached the base of the Revolutionaries in the land, openly walking in as if she belonged. Her likeness to authority aided her in entering with no questions being directed at her, they just assumed by her aura that they would be disrespecting her by questioning her. She smirked walking through the streets of the city, the first city they claimed and spread outward. Pet had to admit that they were doing pretty well and would probably win, which is why she was sent to alleviate some of the pressure all on her own.

For the next few days Pet devoted her time to spying and gathering information about the whereabouts of the leaders before she found out that Dragon was not present and neither were his trusted officials. _A bust, damn! _She did, however, discover that one top member was present and dishing out the orders, she learned his name was Daiki, a very respected man she could discern from the way his underlings talked about him. A sword fighter like herself with spiked deep blue hair and he allowed one lock of hair to be spiked down his forehead. He's also very tall apparently. Pet hm-ed at his information before moving on to finding him, she figured she could assassinate him and have the Gorosei think that her visit wasn't a complete waste, they wouldn't make her fight in this war if they deemed it already as a lost cause. She may be an Uchiha, but she can not take an army out all by her lonesome no matter what the rumors say... maybe ten Uchiha could do it but single-handedly and without her gifted heritage activated, no, she just couldn't do it.

Finally, she witnessed a glimpse of him after following some new leads before she memorized his scent from afar. She smiled when she saw him and disappeared by the time his eyes found the place she was standing, he shook the feeling of eeriness and continued on. The next few days Pet spent trailing him, determining the prime time to assassinate without anyone's suspicion of Marine foul play. Pet would occasionally follow directly behind or into buildings, even when she was feeling daring, but no one ever noticed. She was peeved that none had yet to spot her, _Am I just that good?_

She highly doubted it, but shrugged the suspicion off. Only until later did she realize, _Yes, I really am just that good. _One of the days before her departure from their base she was hiding in the space above the ceiling where she could listen in below her. She could hear the conversation he was having with his seconds and it piqued her interest.

"Sir, we've received some reports that the Demon Wolf is present in this country, from the spies behind enemy lines. We advise you to select some guards."

Daiki's voice reaches Pet's ears, "That won't be necessary. How long has she been here? Do we know where she is?"

A faceless voice responds, "She has been here for at most two months from what our intel says. And no, sir, we do not know where she is, but whatever she's doing it won't be good for us. She's a legend at HQ, almost a fable, but many say she exists, and we know that whoever that legend is based on is here."

_Yes, yes I am. _Pet smirks.

"I doubt we have anything to worry about if she hasn't made her move yet," Daiki states with confidence.

_It's decided then, I'll make my move soon._

Pet listens for a good hour before Daiki has decided that he will be making an appearance on the battlefield, many objected, but he is the boss. Pet smiled, _Perfect. _

The day of the battle was quite hectic as Pet had to covertly launch herself into the fray dodging bullets and swipes, all the same, while also trying to look for Daiki. She just finished parrying some Marine's attacks, making sure not to kill them, before spotting him going up against a Commodore. Pet hung back while their battle raged on, the Commodore was a burly man of incredible size and a cigar sticking out of his mouth with smoke trailing from it. He has graying hair, a white shirt, and dress pants, also his weapon of choice was something of Vegapunk's creation surely. It appeared to be a great machine gun.

Pet cringed while she knocked out some Marine, she chose not to unleash both her swords otherwise she feared someone would recognize her description. This Commodore was one Pet had yet to meet, he wasn't at the meeting after her arrival. His booming laugh showed his confidence, but Daiki remained calm in fighting him which Pet commended him greatly for. It wasn't until Pet witnessed the Commodore shooting his gun at Daiki while he easily ran along evading the line of fire that Pet saw in his path some civilians hiding in the debris. This was a town, after all, and the Marines made it their personal war zone. Pet gasped at the sight then rushed in, Daiki hadn't noticed but when he did run past, he was already too slow to do anything. Pet stepped in throwing herself in and scooping up the child and older teen while maneuvering her body to the side to cover them with her back as some bullets buried themselves deep in her fast moving body. She takes the hits as she goes and to the naked eye suddenly the children are gone before a crash into the nearby building where Pet again shifted to take the force. She couldn't slow down properly what with the shock of six bullet wounds, four buried and two grazed her, but thankfully missed her packages. She lay in the rubble and opened her eyes to find the teen and child safe, but winded. They leave her arms with the older of the two pulling their sibling away from her. She rises despite the pain and stinging, faltering a few times but never falling.

She leaves to stand in the gaping hole in the wall before leaving to find her katana she dropped. The Commodore laughs which makes her twitch, _I'm going to kill him. _She finds her dropped katana and re-straps them on her back before turning to find Daiki engaging in close combat with the Commodore. He wears a look of utter fury.

His opponent continues laughing and taunting, "Mad about something I said, boy? Gonna do something about it, boy? Why don't you hit me like a man, boy?"

Daiki connects in a flurry of attacks and stand motionless with that angered face while the Commodore is blown away from his force. Daiki spits, "You call yourself a Marine. They should at least have more honor than that."

Pet watches stoically before Daiki passes a glance her way asking, "Are you okay? You got some bullet wounds there."

Pet sighs, _Do I have to kill him?_ She frowns then and Daiki watches her facial expressions before smirking,

"What division are you from?"

Pet looks at him, _he's asking about the division in the Revolutionary Army I'm from, huh. _Pet decides something then and steels herself against the consequences, as the Commodore is racing back to kill Daiki, Pet seems to materialize below him and deal a very nice uppercut. His chin flies upward and she twirls to give him a kick to his side. He flies that way with blood spilling from his mouth. He slides across the ground before slowing to a stop and Pet lands on her feet with her back to Daiki. She turns back only to find him with his jaw on the floor as he starts, "H-how did you d-do that!? You should be a top official in the Revolutionary Army!"

Pet cocks her head before smiling sadly and shaking side to side. She turns back to the Commodore standing, as he turns to her, "You little bitch-"

Pet cuts him off with, "That would imply that I'm a female dog and I assure that I am no mere dog." She crouches, her eyes glowing yellow and growing her fangs out, as well as her claws before a deep growl resounds from her throat. The Commodore takes a step back in fear, confusion, recognition, then more confusion maybe a hint of anger as he accuses, "You're her!" Pet snarls and Daiki raises a brow as the Commodore continues, "What are you doing!? You're on our side!"

Pet appears behind him standing and he turns to look at her before she pierces his heart with her hand, the blood rolls down her arm and he coughs up more before she pulls out her arm, the dying man splutters, "Why?" Pet stands back to let him fall and her yellow eyes meet his, only hers glow with the life he's losing, "Don't take it personal. I just decided it would be better for me and the world if you weren't in it anymore." The light leaves his eyes officially and Pet stares at him solemnly for a moment, her hypersensitive ears pick up the sound of his blood dripping down her arm, she mourns the loss of life for a moment, then she moves on.

Daiki stood absolutely baffled at this woman, but gets in a defensive position once she turns to him, her eyes still glowing yellow before he asks, "You are an enemy?"

Pet bares her teeth in a grin, "I'm the one they call the Demon Wolf. At the moment, I've decided to let you go. By go, I mean leave this country right away."

Daiki narrows his eyes, "You're telling me to run?"

Pet laughs, "Not run, merely remove yourself from the situation, for now. It would be in my favor if you weren't around for a while, so I at least have an excuse."

Daiki cocks his head, "Are you on our side? Are you a spy or a sympathizer?"

Pet frowns before turning away, "Don't get me wrong, if my orders directly stated to kill you, you wouldn't have lasted so long, but they expected me to do something. I did, but you're not going to know about it for a while."

Daiki's turn to frown before Pet smiles and turns away, intent on walking away before young voices reach her ears, "Y-you-'re one of t-them?" Pet's breath catches in her chest as she turns to the younglings she saved, she frowns, but nods yes.

The older frowns before stating, "We thank you, but you're one of the Marines. They help the country that has oppressed us... Killed my parents..." The young man with dirty blonde hair just past puberty utters, and a little sister he stays so near watches her with big eyes. _Lucky her. _

Pet nods at them but continues on walking away. Most of the war sounds have moved off by now, the weaker fighters tend to leave the strong ones space in war. Pet turns away, "Sorry about your parents, kid. Just carrying out orders." She begins walking away once more before rushing forward and twisting to face Daiki as he tried to grab her arm, her eyes begin glowing once again, more fiercely than ever with her emotions running high, "Do you want me to kill you!?"

Daiki stands facing her with a calm expression, "This isn't over. Why did you kill one of your own? Who are you really, behind the title of the Demon Wolf?"

Pet snorts, "Well I like long walks on the beach and-"

Daiki frowns, Pet stops before beginning differently, "He would cause more trouble than he's worth. It was a judgement call and also I can't tell you that information without killing you first, so because you dared try to touch me, I'm going to get you pretty close instead..." Pet smiles deviously before launching herself his way, and since her identity is revealed unsheathing her katana as she goes. By the time Daiki realizes what's happened, he has multiple cuts all about his body and bleeding profusely. But Pet isn't satisfied yet as she gives him a good kick to the gut while he's down and then a downward kick connects to his head burying him in rubble. She lands near him in the crater, "Oops, I may have gotten you a little too near death..." Her smile shows how very not sorry she is, she's angry and hurt and has a lot of pent up anger. She'd become psychotic if she never released some steam.

Pet walks over to Daiki, her beautiful blades now sheathed once more, he's limp but Pet narrows her eyes at the faint rise and fall of his chest, he lies on his stomach with his blood beginning to pool around him. She turns to the children who wear horrified expression, as she smiles at them and passive aggressively states, "You might want to find some medics for this chump. He's an important part of taking your home back from the tyrant." The young boy takes a step back before pulling his sister with him to go find someone and tell them that their leader is dying. Pet watches them go, reverting to her stoic features and she turns back to the body laying on the ground, she begins, "Now listen carefully little Revolutionary. They call me Pet, 'Demon Wolf' Pet. All I can tell you is you may call me Pet, anything else about me is all trial and error." She crouches next to him, places her hand on his forehead then on his back as she assesses his condition, "There is a 72% chance that you'll survive this. I actually went a little easy on you. If I went all out, you wouldn't have lasted three seconds." Pet's eyes pore over his body and at the wounds she inflicted before clearing her throat once more, "It would be better for me for you to leave because I should have killed you. It's also be better if no one talks about my killing the Commodore over there." She notices the white of a paper in his hand and she investigates by taking it and opening it to find a den den mushi number. It's specified to be his number. She sighs, _He was going to try to make me into a spy. Give me his number, how sweet. _She memorizes the number quickly and puts it back in his hand before standing once more and turning to walk away, "I hope you guys win this war. I really do..." Then she's gone.

She doesn't take much heat for not finding anyone to murder, but she did stall some of the advances on the Revolutionary's part with all the information she gleaned, so the Gorosei eyed it as a good thing in sending her. They made her fight in some of the battles on the front line for not getting to kill any top people so in penance she was ordered to kill 500,000 Revolutionaries to equal one top person. She became more and more heartless destroying this country's chances for freedom. She counted as she danced on the battlefield wielding her twin blades, _1, 2, 3... 501, 502... 1000... 5000. _With each cut she felt as though she were killing herself as well. The time she had to set aside, and sit down amongst the bodies covered in their blood and staining her white Navy coat red, was filled with her recollections of their faces as she sat brooding and lending each their own moment, so if they had none in their lives to mourn them, at least she dedicated a moment of her time to mourn the loss. Those near her got the message to stay away with her stern face.

They'd circle her as she kneeled with her katana still drawn and dripping blood. Her entire person was covered in the blood of her victims and she merely adopted a statue-like demeanor, as her mind went through every face. Sometimes her allies would try to get her attention but she just blinked and stared into the distance. When finished, she would stand and move on to the next battlefield, disregarding the bodies scattering the floor.

She leaves that country just as forlorn as she entered it, those experiences were nothing new. She kept up with the news and when she was in her room at HQ, she felt immense relief and peace when she interpreted a loss for the Navy in the paper. In an instant, she remembered all those she had killed while there, and she crumpled in on herself, covering her face with her hands taking deep breaths, _Thank God their deaths didn't mean nothing..._

* * *

Being put in charge of people greatly helped Pet's psyche despite her dislike for the fools on the Navy, thinking they do something important, really they're just the dogs of the World Government, Pet feels like a wolf running with mutts, which isn't a natural thing. Atop the building, she rose when the sun's light began coloring the sky, she picked up her baby mushi and placed it in her coat while hopping down from her designated roof top and walking down the lonely streets.

She heads back down to her work place and begins her usual life, falling in with the other directionless Marines present at the division. She merely sits at her window staring out and loathing herself even more. _I was glad Daiki survived when I heard from the underground._

_Hahahaha yeah you totally tortured that one Revolutionary that one time though, That was great! I miss those days when you were totally badass, we were very in sync in those days, then you grew a heart..._

_I didn't grow a heart, it just started beating again. Those __w__e__re__ s__ome very good times._

Pet smiles feeling very connected with the wolf inside.

* * *

Elsewhere in a big mansion a certain noble was smiling and speaking with another person via den den mushi, "So he liked what he saw, your highness?... Excellent."

Ruben smirked at the King's words, "Oh, consider it a gift, just so long as you keep it quiet and hidden. We have hired a special someone to take care of it and then we will be able to send the precious package. Mind you, the Navy will probably search for it what with all the stories surrounding it. So you'll have to be careful and keep it a secret."

Ruben laughs, "Oh, he'll have fun with this one. I wouldn't mind keeping it for myself if I thought I had the room for it. It'll definitely be worth it. It's very good quality and and has a high rating... Okay, I'll let you know when it's on its way."

**-gacha-**

Ruben began cackling maniacally for a moment before his dearest wife came to him with a smile of her own, "How did the deal go?" She places her hand on his shoulder gently laying it there before his own reaches to cover hers.

He smiles wide, "It went well, now all we have to do is catch our dearest Marine friend."

The lady squeezes his shoulder as she questions, "But however will we catch the gal? She is a very strong Commodore, so the stories are told."

Ruben shakes his head, "No, not every one. I've recruited someone special for this part. He's getting paid very heavily."

"Dear! Are you even sure he can do the job!?"

"Hush hush, my sweet, he can do the job. The only one to ever come close to killing our little pet. He's almost here."

"Good."

* * *

Days pass and a report catches Pet's eye, one of her underlings spotted a lowdown going on between Bluejam and apparently there were three boys involved, one was taken away. She notes the time and date, this didn't happen so long ago, by mere hours. Pet stands jostling her desk in her rise and runs, jumping out the window. The sun is going down and then Pet notices, the wind carries the faint scent, _Smoke! There's the fire!_

_The kids are probably in there!_

Pet rushes through Edgetown before coming to the wall that's now closed to those inside. A sinking feeling is felt by Pet before she steels herself in a rage and she scales the wall faster than the eye can see, easily running up it before flipping over and falling into the smoke, but she remains calm as she falls and sees the people barricaded. Still falling, she takes a deep breath, despite the smoke, her eyes burn yellow as she howls toward the ground, her voice carrying in waves and dispersing the smoke without fanning the flames but making them smaller, her howl is more powerful than their fire and heat. She falls and lands absorbing the shock into her two powerful legs while also pushing away the flames from her generated massive gale force winds that blow outwardly. She straightens despite the flames threatening to engulf her. With a quick survey of her surroundings, she rushes through the flames, they can't tell she's even passing them by, a mere shift of air.

While searching for her people and extending her senses, hearing and smell, she catches the faintest of scents that sets her blood boiling and her inner flame is sparked as she recognizes a familiar scent, someone that could spell trouble. She retreats from the flames and heads where she knows he will be waiting for her. Into the forest she goes and out of the fire before she stops within the trees, gives the place a look, then follows the trail.

And there he is, the man of the hour, Pet smiles deviously at the sight of him, "I was wondering when I would get a rematch."

"HAHAHAHA Won't be much a rematch, you'll still lose," his voice booms but Pet only smirks. She looks around at his subordinates on standby.

She shakes her head with a smile before laughing out loud, "kehehe Sorry Raiden but you won't be walking away from this fight, they'll have to carry you away... in buckets..."

Raiden grows serious and Pet can see his muscles flexing, "I don't remember you talking such a big game. You lost our last fight pretty easily, what makes you think you can do better this time?" Raiden cocks his head, Pet smirks, _so the brute has some animal instinct then hey._

_Yes, probably, most animals have a sense for danger. His sirens are probably blaring this time around haha._

Pet holds her smirk in place while leaning back on a nearby trunk, "I wasn't trying before. It was a job, this fight, on this island, with certain people here who look up to me now. I will not falter, I will not hesitate to kill you but ya see, Raiden," she begins walking closer to him and she stops facing him with her arms at her side, when she smiles next, the moonlight glints off her fangs and her eyes burn brighter in the dark, "Your existence is starting to seem like a problem for me. People don't seek me out, the legendary 'Demon Wolf', without some sort of payment or death wish, so I'm going to assume your death will send a very nice message to whomever employed you. So, sorry not sorry, I'm going to have to give you an excruciatingly painful death for daring to face me a second time, just so people understand, they will only get lucky once."

With that said and Raiden still thinking on her words, Pet initiates the fight, dancing around his subordinates with blades unsheathed, it's a peaceful time for Pet as she removes limbs and in some cases stabs while also throwing some other slashes and adding gash wounds to the mix. Blood paints the surrounding trees and the forest drips with their life liquid, when she sees Raiden going to clap and she reads his face as a 'I'm serious about this fight' and 'Life or death situation' before she smiles at his fight response, _Poor guy doesn't know what I'm capable of. He's not very informed haha._

He goes to clap and as his hands are about collide, suddenly Pet is in the air above him with a downward swipe his hands are cut off. She twirls to land a ways to his left looking at him with a smile, she watches the blood spewing from his arms in delight before standing tall as the rest of his subordinates move to protect him with looks of horror on their faces. She cocks her head and basks in Raiden's look of utter shock at his lost limbs, "Kehehe beg like a little dog now, because this is only a taste of what I have in store for you." Pet tilts her head back barking laughter before dodging attacks from his now enraged subordinates, but Pet can still pick out their fear scent. She ends them quickly, none are a match for her before turning her attention to Raiden, who's coming out of his shock as he realizes he's alone now.

His features begin depicting anger before his murmuring reaches Pet's highly sensitive ears, "You bitch, you cut off my hands, you bitch, I'm going to... make you pay!" His voice booms but Pet only smiles before she cocks her head as he's about to whistle, _not this parlor trick again__. _She easily cuts his cheeks in half so he can't form them, then to make sure he can't produce sound, she stabs him in the throat leaving a hole for his esophagus, but not threatening his life except for the blood trickling down. He can't even scream now, _bummer__._ Pet doesn't let it get her down though as she circles her helpless prey, she makes no sound even wading through all the blood.

There's a melancholic drip, drip, before a massive splash is heard and a breath of pain, before another and another as Pet takes her time with him. She stops after a while as she recognizes the life almost gone from this man. When it's gone she reverts back to her usual self and looks down at her carnage then at her blood stained clothes, it even coats her skin red. She looks over the bodies and some of the men still breathing heavily, she clears her throat deducing that one of them must be awake, "The rest who still cling to their pitiful lives, I won't finish you, just know to tell whoever sent you the gory details and make it be known that the 'Demon Wolf' will never show mercy in another fight or a second chance." She begins walking away before muttering, "Sorry for your loss."

When she's far enough away she witnesses the fire still burning brightly in the distance, she figures she missed a little less than ten minutes. From her lookout, however, she can see the outline of a ship on the shore near the fire. She smiles to herself before going to welcome the guests to the island.

She runs through the flames once more before nearing the spot and with a powerful leap she's on the ledge of the ship standing tall and looking down at the Revolutionaries present. They start at her appearance, all of them, they all have experienced a tiny ounce of fear because of the state of her, what with being covered in blood and all. Pet's yellow wolf eyes have locked onto one man, however, the true man of the hour, Revolutionary Dragon.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Alrighty then! There's the next chapter, I'm going to work on the ninth right now so hopefully I'll be able to get that one posted in some days... Follows, Favorites, Reviews are always appreciated. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	10. Storm upon Her

**Author's Note: **Yay! I can finally work on chapter ten. I have been working none stop to finish this chapter properly. So here ya go! Although it's kind of short, I'll make Chapter 10 longer if you'd like.

Again I should probably **warn **you without really **warning **you. There's some deep stuff in this chapter again. Sorry these next few are going to be super dark but it'll get light again someday...

Character's included: **Dogra, Monkey D. Dragon.**

Character's mentioned: **Monkey D. Garp, Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo...**

Another really **OC **based chapter. Again sorry if you wanted more of the other's but they'll be back...someday...

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 9

Pet continued staring straight at Dragon, she smiled showing her pearly whites amidst all the red coating her skin. He did not falter or frown, he did not react like some of the others present, _Interesting..._

Pet broke eye contact momentarily while she sized up all the other Revolutionaries wearing cloaks, she still smiled, "Thanks for coming."

Daiki stepped forward from the back, as even he looked at her with wide eyes, "Pet, what happened? What's with all that blood!? Do you need a doctor!?"

Pet cackled and shook her head becoming composed once more while she keeps her smile, "It's not my blood. I was teaching an old enemy a lesson while also sending a message." Pet begins walking along the ledge, looking out at the fire, she openly shows her back to them, despite the fact they're technically enemies, that's how confident she is. Pet stops, still facing outward with a now solemn expression, "The nobles here don't like me very much. They want to kill me or something like that."

Those around her gulp at her serious tone while Dragon stoically studies her, Daiki steps forward, "Do you need help? What can we do?" Pet smiles slightly at his concern, she can sense **real **concern and worry coming off these people, she cracks a toothy grin for a moment, _How refreshing! These people actually have souls!_

_Don't make me wipe that stupid grin off your face! They are the enemy!_

Pet frowns, _Do they have to be?_

_...In your case... for your job... yes, they do._

Pet feels warmth in her heart for moment, she's touched at the concern of her inner wolf. She finds her frown before turning back to the people behind her, "There's nothing you people can assist me with, nothing I'd let you assist me with any who. Tch," she looks directly at Dragon, "I made my bed, you're going to have to let me lie in it."

Dragon's lips pull upward slightly at her choice of words, she hears his voice for the first time, "Do you plan to sleep forever? We'd be more than happy to be your wake up call."

Pet grins facing them now, her grin is real and if she weren't dripping in blood she might just pass off as beautiful instead of demented, "Kehehe, you know I can't request that Dragon-**san**." Dragon bares his teeth slightly at her addressing him and the Revolutionary audience start at her showing him... dare they think it... Respect.

A wind blows through from the sea and a certain someone's scent reaches Pet's keen nose, her breath catches slightly, her shock is evident and the rest notice, she narrows her eyes at Dragon, a flash of yellow shows her usage of her fruit power.

_I don't believe it!_

_He's... His smell... it's similar..._

_I don't fucking believe it! How the fuck! Of all the people!_

_Just... like... L-luffy..._

Pet stares openly and people, including the great Dragon, are extremely confused at her sudden change in demeanor. Pet cocks her head at him then, before uttering an "Interesting." She bursts into that D smile, "How very interesting! Kehehe Well Dragon-san I can't openly ask you to help me nor can I accept your help in any way, but I promise you this, if I survive whatever these noble's throw at me, consider me an ally." She chuckles to herself, suddenly very at ease in his presence, at her statement, however, most of those present scream, "Eeehh!?" in confusion before Daiki questions, "Why the sudden change!?"

She shakes her head at him, "I've been adopted as an older sister by a certain monkey on this island."

Next she laughs boisterously as they throw their hands up, "What does that even mean!?" "Oi are you insane!?" "What is wrong with this woman!?" She gets all those varying reactions, but from Dragon, at her words his face shows shock before shifting into a small lip smile. A wordless conversation passes between them,

_"You met my son?" _

_"Yes."_

_"How is he?"_

_"He's wonderful."_

_"Good."_

Pet turns away from the calmed crowd and with one look back, "Wish me luck!" She pushes off the ledge almost gliding through the air and into the flames. She touches down but doesn't have time to recover before she begins her sprint back to the forest. She reaches it in no time but doesn't stop, she keeps going until slowing to a jog then a walk. She comes to a river where she merely wades in despite the sudden weakness it causes. She keeps wading deeper, ignoring the tiredness, before she stops. She looks about her at the water being colored red. She begins washing the blood from her clothes, then her skin and face, then her hair. She finishes with a sigh and walks, on shaking knees, out of the slow moving water. She collapses officially on the bank, face first, she doesn't care, she's merely awaiting the return of her strength for a moment.

She smiles to herself and laughs, "I just met..." She quiets before digging in her coat for something and then she pulls out her baby den den mushi, asleep. She smiles, _Hey, do you think I'm too paranoid?_

_Yes, but for your situation I think it's a reasonable paranoia, I think your's is justified._

_Thanks. Glad to know I'm not crazy._

_You do realize you've argued with me... who is technically you, right? And here we are, still talking._

_Yeah, but you're here because of my devil fruit._

_Or am I!? That's just what I want you to think!?_

_Oh, shut up._

_Haha you're still nuts. I could give you plenty of reasons..._

_No, I know I am, but were you paying attention earlier? That was Revolutionary Dragon! The most wanted man by the Navy! And I think I just became allies with him!_

_If you survive. Idiot. You're causing more trouble for your family. Why are you always so difficult?_

_Come on, I'm destined for greatness, can lowly nobles really touch all this?_

_Don't get cocky, keep being paranoid kid, you'll live longer._

_Yeah, yeah, I know. I just... he's a D._

_Doesn't mean you should get all chummy with him. You have responsibilities and other things to deal with._

Pet sighs and she seems to sink lower to the ground, _He's related to Luffy._

_...Touche._

Pet rolls over facing the lightening sky. She lets her head fall to the side as she wears her concerned expression before she arises but falters, much to her surprise. _I'm tired? I thought-_

_Sleep, ya knucklehead!_

She has no retort as she falls asleep in a heap, she awakens, a day and a half later, she decides to wait to see her brothers. She turns back and walks to Gray Terminal only to discover the decimation. She growls deeply, bursts into a run, and gets into the city. She lays low and heads toward her division building only to discover while spying that they think she's dead. Apparently the nobles made up some story that she disappeared when the fire started, that she was screaming delusions of saving as many people as she could. Pet frowns as her underlings go about their few duties in a dejected manner, some muttering, "Thought she was a legend." "Some great demon wolf."

Pet smiles to herself, knowing HQ won't believe their story and neither will Garp or any others that know her, although they only know a tiny bit more than acquaintances would. Pet shrugs, _if people from the Navy won't miss me when I'm gone then at least I know three children who will. _A very comforting thought, the assurance that she will have made an impact and actually felt the bond of family. Pet leaves and goes to spy on the nobles, she finds no valid reason to suspect foul play, but her inner wolf's spine is tingling. She senses a danger on the wind, but she can't determine the direction it's blowing from.

_I can't determine if I'm being watched..._

_Assume that you are._

Pet keeps her guard up as she continues checking things out. The rest of the day passes as does another one and for the life of her, she can't shake that ominous feeling, something sinister lurks. She finds herself in the most deserted of places and yet feels like she's surrounded. _What the fuck is going on!?_

_Keep your head, Pet. This isn't the time to get frustrated._

Pet shakes her head, _something really really bad is going to happen. And I don't fucking know what!_

_Be calm, Pet._

Pet scales a building and quickly jumps from roof to roof. She lands in an alley, before stopping in her tracks and scenting the area, looking at the entryways, then following a trail, _Why is Sabo still in this city!? This scent is fresh!_

_Pet! Today is the day those World Government people show up! Don't do anything rash!_

_It's Sabo._ Pet states with resolve as she continues on the path he took, she reaches the back of a crowd gathered at the docks awaiting the arrival of the ship. It's in sight. Pet gasps at the small boat floating out to sea. With her height and her eyes, a sinking feeling fills her being as she recognizes Sabo riding straight for the massive ship. Her jaw remains open as she whispers, "Please... keep him safe."

She narrows her eyes as the first shot is fired and holds her breath as the next sets the ship aflame, she breathes a sigh of relief, however, when her eyes catch the slightest movement. "Thank you." She takes a step back, _For this I can never repay him._

_...okay fine... I'll admit that he came through right there._

Pet looks to her side as she sees one of the mountain bandits, Dogra, he doesn't see her in his saddened and urgent haste to get out of the area. _He thinks Sabo's dead. I-I have to tell them. Otherwise Ace and Luffy will hear and think him dead. _She begins following at a walk before a girly voice utters, "Commodore!?" She frowns as she's not wearing her coat anymore, but her katana are still strapped to her back. She wears her jeans, a tank top, and a different color cloak, but her hood was down. She turns to the voice only to spot Melia heading towards her with a maniac grin on her face, she's waving and pushing through the crowd to her. Pet begins running away down an alley, abandoning her mission of informing her family. Pet thinks she loses her and finds an abandoned building to slip inside and pace, thinking on what to do next before Melia enters and pants holding her knees, "C-commodore! y-you're alive! Y-you also m-move very f-fast!"

Pet frowns at her appearance, "The nobles set me up, I'm hiding out from them. How did you find me so quickly?"

Melia straightens with a bright smile and small tears, "I followed your trail. I'm so happy you're alive! The others will be too! We have to tell them! Wait, the nobles! That's horrible!"

Pet cocks her head and sighs at Melia's usual mannerisms before she shakes her head, "Melia, keep this a secret for now. I have to inform my superiors about their treachery. That is an order," Pet finishes when she notices Melia about to talk again. Pet begins her pacing once more to think before she stops at movement and sound. She looks at Melia whose frowning at her in thought, before Pet's eyes survey the walls as she determines coordinated movement outside. She beckons Melia closer, "Shit, they already sent someone to find me." Melia is following Pet's eyes with a pensive face before someone enters the building and Pet moves to face them about to unsheathe yin before feeling a few different needles being shot into her back. Her raised arm falls as she turns to look at Melia in shock.

The girl smiles and shrugs, "Got ya there, didn't I?"

By this time, they're surrounded and Pet notices the other Marines of her division. Her eyes pore over them and she feels her strength and consciousness leaving her, "W-what?"

They all smirk deviously at her and Melia tches, "Can't have you informing those at HQ about the nobles. We work for them ya know? tck tck Pet, sorry about this, we swear it's nothing personal, but you make us look bad. It was great watching how you thought you had the power, we knew, we always knew who the ones with real power are and, unfortunately, they don't like you."

Pet sways slightly while watching them, _they're all traitors. How could I not have seen this?_

_I didn't... either..._

Pet takes a knee and Melia crouches to whisper in her ear, "Maybe I'll get a promotion, if not, I could lead some Marines to take out those Mountain Bandit pests past the forest. You know the cabin right?"

Pet shuts her eyes as she takes a deep breath channeling her power, a quick jab leaves Melia leaning against her for support with her chin on Pet's shoulder. Pet's left arm is right through Melia's heart, Pet summons a last bit of energy to whisper back, "How are you going to do that... when you're dead?"

Pet's eyes challenge those surrounding her, they took a step back in shock at Melia's sudden death, Pet's eyes say what she has not the strength to say anymore, "Take a step forward if you're willing to put your life on the line." Pet sinks onto her back, smirking at their insolence, _Bastards think they'll get away with this..._

_No, they have to know we'll be back, right? Or else, they're just stupid._

Pet allows the drugs to take her.

Those surrounding shuffle their feet uncomfortably as they look at each other and ponder, "Who's going to tie her up and get Melia off her?" After much pointless argument the cowards step forward and pull Pet's arm out of Melia's chest. The blonde looks quite shocked and the men shake their heads at her stupidity in openly challenging the Demon Wolf, just because she looked cornered, the men had the forethought that a cornered animal **will** lash out. They didn't waste anytime grieving for her, her death means more money for them.

They tied up Pet with her hands behind her back with kairoseki cuffs and some extra rope... just in case. Many of them, with all the stories surrounding such a legendary person, felt that there was a possibility that if she tried hard enough she could get break them... They put her into a bag to hide her from prying eyes and carried her to the nobles house and dropped her none too gracefully on the floor.

Ruben was quite ecstatic to see her reduced to nothing, but it unsettled him when they pulled her out for her to still wear such a cocky smirk, even when she's fucking sleeping! How dare she look so smug! Ruben frowned and had his wife take care of the business of payment. He had his servants put her away for the time being somewhere dark and dank, the basement of his reputed home, where he had a nice setup for all his kidnapping needs. Pet was chained up and Ruben explicitly told them to take care in tightening the kairoseki, "This one is a wily one." When finished, they all left the Commodore to her sleep.

* * *

Pet's eyes open to pitch black darkness many hours later. She tries taking a whiff of the surrounding area but, to her dismay, she feels weak, _Fucking great! Damn Kairoseki!_

_Hey, could you not yell so loudly I'm trying to sleep what with this whole power draining thing_, Pet frowns as her usually boisterous wolf has been reduced to a light whisper.

_Sorry._

Pet surveys herself, she notes her arms are above her head and at an angle being pulled out as if she were in a box with her wrists chained and pulled to the corners. Her legs are the same and to her fury slightly open, but at least she still wears her clothes. _If they do that to me, I will make them regret their entire existence. _

_Like last time?_

Pet smirks, _but of course, maybe go a little easier since I'm an adult now and I was a child then, it was way more fucked up!_

_You let me deal with them though._

_Well, as of now, you sound pretty weak so I'll take this one._

_Oh shut up, bitch_, Pet frowns at the halfheartedness of the usual verbal abuse.

She shakes her head only to notice with a major drop of attitude, clinking... _THEY DARE TO PUT A COLLAR ON ME!? _

Despite the weakness it incurs, she growls deeply with a flash of yellow bulbs in the darkness before they fade, they gave her just enough time to get a lay of her surroundings. Before she slumps slightly with her wrist's cuffs digging into her skin, but she doesn't mind the dull ache. She noticed a small room with dark stone walls and a chair by the door, _this is just a holding room. _She also was able to catch the distinct scent of Ruben. _HAHAhaha when I am free I will murder him and make him beg like a little chihuahua for mercy. After I string him up in this contraption and have a little fun in tearing off his dick with my fangs! _

With her limited hearing she picks out footsteps beyond the door, coming closer. They stop by the door before entering and light is let into the room before a switch is turned, giving Pet a much better view. She doesn't flinch at the change or blink, but merely stares with a casual smirk at Ruben, he tried beginning, "Dearest-" before Pet cuts him off with a cocky air,

"Cut the crap. You know once I'm free you're a dead man, and that little wife of yours too. I might have some fun with her before slicing her throat, but don't worry, after I finish collecting all your money I'll make sure it goes to a good cause. Maybe buy two nice bricks to mark your graves. Kehehe I could go on but I'm afraid I'd bore you with the details." Pet smiles at him, _He's good... But I'm better, _as she notices a little bead of sweat running down his forehead.

Ruben clears his throat and with a smile, "You think you'll get out someday. Well you won't, we'd kill you before you ever had the opportunity. And for now, you'll be staying here for a little while so we can break you a bit. I've been given permission to use any means I might find necessary in preparing you. See," he begins pacing to and fro in front of Pet's little set up, "you will be going to a specific kingdom because the king there wants you as a present for his son's birthday. A little toy. Take heed little Marine, you are nothing to us nobles, nothing but a toy soldier to cater to our every whim. You'd do well to learn that early on." Ruben stops in front of her with a smile as Pet's head is bowed. To his delight he sees a small tear roll down her cheek.

He laughs, "Oh poor little pooch, don't worry, if you behave, you'll be treated very nicely." He reaches a hand up to brush away her tears before her eyes shoot open and with a summon of power slight fangs grow and she chomps on his hand. Blood flows profusely from her mouth as she bites down hard enough for a crack to be heard where she bit on his basal joint breaking the bone in his palm that connects to the bones that make up his thumb. She smiles while he screams and writhes in pain trying to pull his hand out of her mouth, but she's locked her jaws.

_If he keeps this up, the damage will be permanent._

_...stop..._

Pet feels the weakness overtake her as she releases him and he falls back on his ass while cradling his injured left hand. Pet watches him intensely relishing in his epic fail, she has his blood running down her chin and onto her white shirt. She begins cackling maniacally, "You fool, wolves are cunning creatures. You should always be on guard. And to think that you thought you could best me so easily. Newsflash, I will not be broken!"

Pet continues cackling while Ruben sends a glare her way before he rushes out of the room. And so he sends his wife down...

Pet smiles at her arrival, the image is unsettling to have a tied up person smiling maniacally while having dried blood on their chin.

_Pet, you're overdoing it..._

_Calm down, I got this._

The woman walks around Pet eyeing her with much scrutiny before stopping in front of her, face to face. Reina maintains a straight face, Pet narrows her eyes at her slightly. Then suddenly Pet is in front of Reina's face with a "Boo!" and the dignified woman jumps back with a shriek before trying to calm her rapid heart beat. Pet throws her head back and begins barking laughter. She shakes her head before turning to Reina's now composed form. She clears her throat with a hmph before, "You would do well to learn some manners, otherwise they will be taught to you."

Pet smiles lightly, "So teach me."

Reina frowns at the challenging glint in Pet's crazed eyes. She clears her throat again, nervously, before shutting off the light, and closing the door behind her. Pet slumps from holding herself upright, she bows her head and closes her eyes, no point keeping them open what with the darkness. _I'm tired._

_you're telling... me_

_So much work... Kairoseki draining me constantly._

_You should've behaved... now they're going to make it even more difficult for us._

_We'll see._

_I wonder how the boys are doing._

Pet's eyes shoot open, _Oh no! Sabo! They think he's dead! They're probably so sad! Ace and Luffy!_

_Shut the fuck up. Not just Sabo, what about you? You're being sent away, remember? They're going to cry over you too. And you're making it harder for us to get out! To get back to them!_

_I...I can't show these people weakness. I will fight to the very end, even if it means that I won't be able to see them again..._

_Pet..._

_It's enough for me,_ Pet digs her chin into her chest as her face contorts with pain, _to know that I have people who will cry for me when I'm gone...who will notice...and care..._

Pet takes massive gulp of air as her fists clench, a single tear slides down her cheek and falls. The water evaporates quickly leaving no trace of it ever occurring. Pet falls asleep soon after.

* * *

Not too long later is Pet awakened from her uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, still slightly groggy from the change in lighting, but she's awake instantly when she notices Reina pointing a tranquilizer gun at her. _Great... Just great._

She's shot with the gun, but strangely doesn't feel the sudden need to sleep... Instead she finds that she can't move. _They paralyzed me...Damn it! _She will end them painfully and brutally when she gets out.

The fun begins, however, as Reina brings in her little tray of goodies and exposes Pet completely. _Hey, I don't mind, I'm confident with the way I look. _"Ew, who knew you'd have so many scars, dear!? Oh well, we've already been paid so it's not like your value will drop." _Ah fuck you! I got these during my childhood, bitch! Don't judge me!_

Pet remains angered at the woman's degradation of her body. Can't she see a fucking goddess! With Pet's nice set of boobs, brown and slightly curled hair (although it's usually kept up in a ponytail), the pleasant curvature of her hips, and the tanned and well toned body of a very fit woman, she can seduce any man if she wanted to... So what if her body is marked with many scars... They all tell a story.

Pet sighed as Reina began the process of "breaking" her. She merely took it all with an inner sigh, not like she can express her pain if she felt any. First, Reina began cutting her with little slices along her arms and legs with a few on her stomach and back. _Yawn. _Then she began slowly pushing the knife inside her, in long and slow stabs sometimes dragging it deep. _Bore. _

The idiotic woman thought she was making progress, "Had enough? Think you're so great now, huh? Well, we'll see if you behave." Reina left Pet and her many bleeding wounds.

Pet smiles then, "She didn't even realize that the paralyzing serum wore off ages ago." Pet shakes her head and begins chuckling to herself, _This will definitely cause problems for later, without my heightened healing capabilities, I'm going to bleed longer. Damn._

The next time, Ruben came in to admire his wife's work, Pet noticed with a smile that his hand was completely covered in bandages, he told her, "Just two more days and you're outta here, love."

Pet yawns, "Good cuz you guys can't even torture properly. I'm practically an Admiral, genius! It's gonna take a lot more than that to make me cringe." Pet smiles brightly at the baffled man before he walks away muttering "more damage" and something about a "lesson". Pet shrugs and once he's gone, she does her routine of bowing her head and catching her breath.

Pet awakens to Reina once more, but she doesn't get the syringe, instead Reina picks up the spiked whip. Pet smirks, _Kinky, eh? Steppin' it up I see._

Reina shakes her head, "My husband told me that I should adopt stricter forms of submission, since he's not that convinced you're learning. While I know how delicate a woman can be."

Pet continues smirking, "Come a little closer and I'll show you how delicate I truly am."

Reina shakes her head once more before sighing, "We'll see how you feel after this lesson." _Ah ha! That's what he meant about lesson. See! I knew I heard something about a lesson. Hahaha._

_Pet, just stop... it's not working. This whole cheerful attitude and strength. You're hurting. I know._

_I'm not. They will._

Pet's finger only twitches once before she goes completely still when Reina begins whipping her back, a few times before she walks to her front and begins chewing her lip as Pet's stoic face. Pet stares at her before smirking and then developing a smile, "Done already?"

Reina openly frowns at Pet, "How are you not in pain?"

Pet cocks her head, "Why would I be in pain? Were you doing something back there?" Pet tries to turn her head and peer over her shoulder before turning back with a devious smirk. Reina taps her foot before whipping Pet's front, a similar twitch by her toe before she stills. Pet stares at Reina as she grows angry and whips her harder. The slashes cut her stomach and breasts and the last gift leaves a cut under Pet's right eye, going across the underneath of it before trailing down beside her nose. Reina shakes with rage, "This is not possible!"

Pet smiles, "Believe it."

Reina storms out, leaving Pet in the dark once more. This time Pet waits a while before her body begins convulsing rapidly as she raises herself up gritting her teeth and breathing heavily from the pain. She falls again still wheezing, _Gyaaaahhhhhhh! _She bites her lip at her inner scream while she shivers. She felt every stinging lash after another, each cutting across her back, she still feels her warm blood cascading down her back and front, her eye hurts and small tears reflexively fall from it. She gives a dry sob before calming herself.

_...I'm so sorry, Pet. Calm down... We'll get out of this._

_I know we will. It just hurts so much. I hate whips, I always find them to be one of the worst physical forms of torture ever. They sting like a bitch!_

_Oh, quit whining, cry baby._

_That was weak, even from you._

_Shut up, this kairoseki has me all out of sync._

Pet smiles halfheartedly before her exhaustion pulls her into sleep. She awakens next to some servants tending to her wounds while Reina watches from the door frame, she wears a pensive look. "You're looking tired there." She smiles, "Usually you're awake right when we're through the door. Guess you are losing some of that strength you're so proud of."

Pet blinks at her before looking away with a solemn expression. The servant girls wear faces of disgust and disdain at her condition, pity as well. _I don't need their pity._

Pet stares aimlessly while they clean her wounds and dress them before re-clothing her. A simple white tank top and some very short shorts. Pet remains silent and makes no complaints throughout her prepping. She'll be sent off to some faraway land, she knows. _I'm getting too old for this._

_Quit acting like you're fifty. Nobody is ever old enough to experience this shit._

Pet sighs outwardly and Reina raises a brow before smirking in delight. After the girls finish, they leave the room while giving Pet regretful glances, while Reina watches them go Pet flashes them a smile and gives them a wink. They start at her change before turning hurriedly out the door and when Reina looks back, Pet has reverted to looking dejected and forlorn. Reina smiles to herself, "Now don't worry little Commodore, my husband has a present for you." She leaves the room leaving the door open and light on. Pet scowls, _this better not upset my plans to kill that bitch._

_You really never learn._

_They need to know they may count me down and out, but to me, I'm still standing._

Pet frowns as Reina enters the room once more with Ruben tailing her, his hands are behind his back and he wears an evil smile. "Pet, how are you doing? I have something for you. Since I noticed the other day when you bit me that we may have to send you off with a warning label, I decided that you should get used to..." He shows his prize and Pet's eyes widen, _Ah hell no! I'm going to murder both of them!_

What she saw in his hands was a very nicely constructed muzzle, that will cover her mouth and gets strapped at the back, two straps from the mouthpiece connect before moving out, one strap would go over her ear and the other under that same ear, it's the same for the other side. The contraption is black. Pet could cry now, here, in front of these people. _This is so degrading._

_The outrage! Let's fucking kill them!_

_Yeah!_

Pet closes her eyes, however, and lowers her head...showing her...submission... _My pride...It's all gone..._

Ruben smiles and Pet tells herself, it'll all be worth it. He puts the muzzle on and she stares at the floor admiring the work and design of every grain of material. Ruben leaves laughing with Reina in tow. They turn off the light and shut the door. Pet shakes with rage, despite herself, her eyes pierce the darkness as she feels a burst of energy at the audacity of these people.

* * *

When they do return, she is taken down, she doesn't fight back. Her hands are tightened behind her back and her ankle shackles are removed to let her walk. Her collar remains, however. She walks surrounded by the servant girls and a few Marines from the division. They cover her so no prying eyes can see her state of appearance. She walks solemnly. They reach outside the house and Pet is shocked to find it dark. _I've already lost track of time. This is no good. How long has it been?_

_Heck if I know._

Pet looks past the girls' shoulders to see Ruben and Reina holding hands as if out on a stroll. She notes they're heading to the docks. Pet inwardly sighs. They reach the dock in no time before her group has caught up with the nobles. They're talking with these burly men and seem to be exchanging things. Pet is pushed forward and the Marines escort her to directly behind Reina and Ruben as they look back at her with smug looks. The big men are totally checking her out. She doesn't meet their gazes. Reina beckons her forward and she is pulled in between them, she catches the leader of the group licking his lips slightly. If she could express herself using her mouth, she'd be looking pretty smug too.

They allow her to go, the leader grabs her arm pulling her away from her caretakers, before she is out of range, however, with a burst of strength she pulls back leaping straight into the air and dipping into her wolf power extending her claws on her hindlegs. She slices the throat of Reina diagonally landing on the ground in front of her as she gurgles in shock before falling backward. Ruben rushes forward, but Pet is standing and twists kneeing him in his gut while he bends over spewing out blood. Pet straightens her leg out above him before bringing her back claws down and slicing his neck as well. He falls face forward.

The time it took to complete her objective, mere seconds. The marines are staring at her while pointing their weapons, the servant girls ran away screaming. The burly men burst forward and grabbed Pet by her arms, legs, and neck. She continued staring crazily at her previous underlings, her vow_,_ _I will return to exact my revenge!_

The use of her power tired her out and she fell limp by the time the sharks got her aboard their ship. They knew now, "Do not underestimate her."

Fortunately for her, those days went by in a blur, all she could think was, _Ace, Luffy, Sabo... Luffy, Sabo, Ace... Sabo, Ace, Luffy..._ and she also thought, _when was the last time I had anything to eat?_

There was one encounter that was most prominent while on the trip. There she was, laying on the ground of her cell, just staring at the ceiling and questioning her life choices. She knew it was nighttime because of there being no sunlight filtering in from the cracks. She twitched slightly when a door to the room housing her cage was opened and loud footsteps came to the door of her cell. It was quiet for a few moments. _Here we go. _Pet's eyes never left the ceiling and she heard the cage door being opened and closed before more silence. _Can't they see I'm wallowing right now? _For the record, she hasn't moved the whole time she's been on the ship.

The leader, whom Pet discovered as also Captain of this ship, eyed her body intensely. "You won't mind right?"

_Damn straight I mind._

_Pet, come with me for a sec._

_I might miss something important though?_

_Nothing important will happen while you're with me, I promise. Come on._

Pet feels herself disconnect from her body as she imagines walking through a forest with a big black wolf. She smiles at it, "_Been a while since I've seen you in this form._"

The wolf looks at her with piercing yellow eyes, "_Join me for a bit. Let's run together and be free for a while._" Pet nods and smiles.

She runs beside the great black wolf before changing herself, she's now a white wolf of similar statute. Her eyes are blue, red, and yellow sectioned off with each having one third of her eye color. The wolves run beside each other for a time yipping and barking before play fighting together. They never tire in this place only when they wish it. They stop and lay together just enjoying each other's company. The white wolf, Pet, leans against the black one before letting her head rest on the back of her packmate.

"_I'm sorry Pet, but it's time for you to go back._"

Pet's multicolored eyes close and she feels herself reconnecting with her body. Her brown eyes open and she returns to staring at the ceiling, wondering why her body has gained so many new aches and pains. She doesn't dwell on it.

* * *

The crew finally makes land in the designated kingdom. They drag Pet out and let her be taken away by the palace guards. The guards handle her a bit more carefully and they travel by horseback to the castle. A castle of not too much stature, it's still large and gray in the sunlight with many stones and Pet can tell from far away, many ways to get lost. The castle has three towers, the main tower and two side towers on either side. Pet thinks it looks a bit too medieval. The towns are truly mediocre and run down. Pet doesn't react to the many sights, she's tired...and hungry.

They reach the castle and enter only for Pet to be carried off and taken to a very lavish room. Many servants are there to take care of her. They clean her up and tend to any new wounds while her old ones are surprisingly healed which again arises the question, _How long has it been again?_

They adorn Pet but she retains her chains, she finds later that her muzzle is gone, _when did that happen?_

She is then put to rest a day before the prince's ceremony, only after, will she be given properly as a gift of the king to his son. _My information gathering skills are completely down the toilet. Where am I? Who's the king? Who's the prince?_

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Alrighty then. There's the next chapter. Reviews, Favorites, and Follows are always appreciated. Let me know what ya'll think so far. I truly hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	11. Storm Chasers Closing In

**Author's Note: **I know I'm horrible and put the pro in procrastination yada yada. For the record, I wrote way more than I have in a long time so ya'll better be happy about that at least. So I blame my lateness on genes and the fact that I wrote more than I usually do.

I lied about the characters not being in the story for a while, here they are.

Character(s) Included: **Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Garp, Bogard, Monkey D. Dragon, Sengoku**

Character mentions: **Sabo**

I should probably **warn **ya'll of things... So consider this your **warning **that this chapter gets very... uncomfortable, but I try not to get too detailed with that stuff.

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 10

Luffy and Ace, after receiving the news of Sabo, grieved. Once they properly grieved, they made one last pact to follow the brother, they thought dead, out to sea. That pact entailed freedom and family.

After the boys had fully healed, Luffy began bugging Ace, "Where's nee-chan? Ace!" Luffy was staring at Ace while shifting his weight from one side to the next in a swaying fashion with his big eyes.

Truth is, Ace was worried too, he thought that Pet would've made sure to check on them after the fire like Luffy or... Sabo... would've done. Ace sat thinking intensely, before standing and deciding, "We're going to go find her!"

Luffy burst into action, "Yeah!" The boys began their journey into town, less treacherous now that the Celestial Dragon and World Government people had concluded their inspection. The boys put on their disguise of one grown man, although smaller since they were now missing a brother. The disguise, itself, is already suspicious anyways, but they weren't stopped, the nobles were all in a good mood for some reason. The boys were searching around the sections of the town looking for Pet's division building when they discovered the mediocre building and it's glamour. It didn't seem like Marines worked there, it looked more like a hangout than a place where people work to uphold justice.

"Are we there yet?" Luffy was panting because, of course, he was made to carry his older brother, because who knows why.

Ace replied tersely, "Yes, we're here," he then went on to direct Luffy to an alley beside the building where they could remove their disguise. It was easy finding an open window on the first floor to peer in and spy on the lazy Marines. They both constructed their own mini tower to stand on and press their faces up against the glass, covertly, of course.

Through the glass they saw many Marines, all young, smiling and talking with one another. There was a lot of sake and rum that was being passed around, they were toasting one another and made big waves of their hands while talking with wide smiles, as if they were talking boisterously.

Ace found he could pick out a few words because of the thin walls, "That job was great!"

"Too bad about Ruben and Reina though."

"Hey, they were asking for it when they let their guard down around the 'Demon Wolf'."

Ace cocked his head at the epithet, he'd never heard it before. Luffy was merely staring intently at the food with slight drool rolling down his chin. Ace diverts his attention back as the Marines continue conversing with one another.

"I thought she would've been harder to take down?"

"Well, we did catch her by surprise."

"Yeah, she probably never thought that she'd have to fight against her own troops."

"Melia did die, I mean, did you see that!? The Wolf totally seemed down, but then it was like 'BAM' and suddenly Melia was dead!"

"That was actually kind of cool."

"She was persistent, I don't think anyone else could've done that."

"Nah, she probably had a reason. Does anyone know what Melia said to her?"

There is a chorus of "No" all around. Ace frowns at the Marines, _Just who is this 'Demon Wolf'. Could that be Pet? What did they do to her?_

Ace turns to Luffy only to find him gone. He searches around for a bit before finding him trying to sneak food from the Marines. After Ace finds him and drags him away, they don their disguise and return to the forest. Ace and Luffy wrinkle their noses at the smell of Gray Terminal, not just out of the smell, but because of the memories of what happened during the fire.

They walk through the forest and Luffy banters, "What did you hear Ace?" "Where's Pet?" "When's she coming back?" And on and on while Ace stares at Luffy with an older, more mature demeanor about him, but Ace had no idea where Pet was and frankly, he was starting to wonder if she left without saying goodbye.

Ace shrugs, then, in response to Luffy's questions while also elaborating, "Those Marines were talking about some 'Demon Wolf' person and apparently she killed this lady called Melia, because of some unknown reason. They were admiring the 'Demon Wolf'..."

Luffy cocks his head, "Pet isn't a demon, but she can turn into a wolf!" Luffy smiles so widely and begins running around, "When do you think she'll give us another ride!? Can we go hunting again!?"

Ace's worry grows as he realizes, _oh yeah! Pet does change into a wolf, huh? Then that means they took her down... _

Ace stops in his tracks and Luffy quiets at his brother's sudden change. Luffy asks, "Ace, what's wrong?"

Ace looks at his brother, loosing his calm facade, "Those Marines said they took her down... They thought it would be harder and... they caught her by surprise..."

Luffy frowns slightly at his words, "What does that mean Ace?"

Ace gulps before shaking his head to clear his fears away for his younger brother's sake, "I don't know but..." _we're going to regret this, _"We need to talk to ji-ji." Luffy frowns before smiling and deciding, "Okay."

Unfortunately, the brothers had no way of contacting Garp so they were forced to wait for his next visit. In the days leading up to the visit, they carried on as usual with training and doing as kids do.

Later, Garp made his way to the Goa Kingdom, he was unhappy and unsettled by the fact that a Marine under his command, a very reputed and respected Marine, was not answering her calls. The higher ups sent him to find her, or determine if she defected, as they were unhappy with their orders going unheard.

Garp passed through Cocoyashi Village and occasionally stopped to chat with the villagers and laugh amongst them for a few spare minutes. He was heading up to the Mountain Bandit's cabin to see if Pet was there hiding out before he would go to the division building to ask around. Sure, he had people who could do this leg work for him, but he made it his personal mission to give the girl his Fist of Love to knock some sense into her. When he reached the cabin, however, he did not find her and something about the whole situation felt weird. From what he knew of Pet, she took her work very seriously and he doubted that she'd just stop and disappear.

His smile grew when he saw Ace and Luffy headed his way. Luffy was running to him with a giant of a smile for such a small person, while Ace was leisurely walking while staring at the ground. Garp barked laughter, "How are my cute little grandsons!?"

Luffy was laughing while running circles around his grandfather to burn off steam. Ace stopped in front of the old man with a scowl, "Sup ji-ji."

For that, Garp's expression changed into one of anger as he bonked Ace's head with his fist, "I told you to call me ji-chan!"

Ace cradled his bump while scowling indignantly at his adoptive grandfather. Luffy merely laughed boisterously at the exchange. After exchanging some more argumentative yet oddly loving words, the family got down to business. It had been three weeks since the fire and still no word to either side from Pet. Garp asked, "Have you guys seen Pet lately?"

Ace and Luffy simultaneously shook their heads, before Ace began, "We haven't seen her since before the fire in Gray Terminal. We thought you might know."

Garp frowned then, "What do you mean?"

Ace then recounted his and Luffy's exploits into the city to search for their older sister while Luffy butted in every now in then to say, "I was really hungry!" "I'm hungry right now!" "Then Ace chased me" and at one point he stated with childish pride, "Ace listened to them talking and I was bored!" Garp mainly listened to Ace while Luffy jumped in the background every now and then. After Garp heard of the Marines and their words regarding the 'Demon Wolf', he knew that Pet may be in danger or even worse, she could already be dead.

Garp set himself to taking the matter very seriously before he and his grandsons said their goodbyes. Garp went back to his ship to think deeply on the subject while his crew docked the ship in the bay of the Kingdom.

He left with his right hand man, Bogard, and some others of his crew. Most knew Pet, but none really knew her on a personal level, she never spoke about her past or family, she always kept to herself and never seemed to want to be included in the antics of the crew. With Garp as the one in charge, the days usually had a funny spin on them. The men, even though they didn't know her, still held a high respect for Pet and who she was to the Marines. She was a great asset and legend among them, and they admired how she could easily walk up to Garp and order him around despite her rank being lower, but they saw the authority displayed through her actions. She seemed to even outrank Bogard, but she actually was outranked by him in that he is a Rear Admiral to Garp.

They all didn't tend to the suspicion that Pet defected, the suspicion arose around those who had only heard the stories of her and had not met her in person. Anyone, after meeting Pet in person, could see the 'pride' she took in her work and how much she 'valued' being a Marine. If HQ ever wanted a poster child, Pet is the gal for the job.

When the serious little band reached the steps of the Marine division in the land, they first noted how small it was, yet oddly glamorous. The building did not have the high glamour of those surrounding it, but it had it's flair of architecture and odd sparkling of the Marine colors. The place most definitely did not seem like a place of work and justice. The outranked Marines pulled open the doors for Garp and Bogard before following them in.

The place was neat, but the first floor had desks filled with knickknacks meant to pass the time. From this, it could be assumed that the Marines here did not do or have any work. Garp was greeted by one of the Marines present, he seemed like the voted man in charge, he saluted before Garp dismissed him with a wave of his hand. Garp's face showed he meant business, no laughing or joking around, something about this place smelled fishy, and he had all his years of being a Marine backing his conclusion. The middle aged man stood at attention before venturing, "May I ask about your being present, Vice Admiral, sir?"

Garp merely said, "Just looking for someone who was stationed here for a while. Do you know where Commodore Pet is?"

The raven haired man shook his head while saying, "No sir! She disappeared before the fire that broke out in Gray Terminal." The man shows no signs of deceit.

Garp nods before scratching his chin, Bogard steps forward, "Did she say where she was going? And why hasn't this been reported?"

Thinking fast with the few others staring into his back, designated leader states with confidence, "Some nobles saw her heading toward the fire, something about saving the people who lived there. It hasn't been reported because we received a letter from her informing us that she would no longer be with us and was reassigned. Unfortunately, we have already discarded the letter as it was received two weeks ago."

Bogard looks to Garp then, he's satisfied with the man's answers. Garp, however, despite his usual carelessness knows many things and he responds, "Very well," before turning out the door with his crew behind him. He stops at the foot of the steps and he turns to his under-ranked followers, "Search Gray Terminal for any evidence of Pet, don't hesitate to go into the forest. Also, get statements from each those Marines in there... separately, and determine Pet's steps while in this town. Where she went and what not."

Garp turns away once his men answer with an astute, "Aye sir!" They get to work and Garp leaves with Bogard back to the ship. The two men are silent in their steps.

* * *

Footsteps could be heard coming down through the hall of the secret base the Revolutionaries made home. Dragon was out on the hidden balcony thinking on many things, as he is the leader of the Revolutionary Army, so he has a lot to think about. On this day and at this time, however, a certain Marine was on his mind. As the leader of the Revolutionaries, he saw her as an asset, having someone well versed in the top branches of the Navy beyond the Fleet Admiral and into the unknown. Dragon knew she's a very important person, not just from the stories his men heard, but also one look at her and he could see a certain aura about her that made those around her seek her out. She resembled a man with a plan, only a woman.

Dragon did not turn at the sound of the footsteps crossing the room and stopping a distance from where he stands. He only turned when Daiki spoke to him, "Dragon-san we've found out that Pet is missing."

Dragon turns back to staring out across the land, "Send people out to search for her, start with finding which nobles she was talking about before, then move on to their contacts and search them. Keep all our agents on a lookout across the kingdoms, give them a good description of her. We want her found."

Daiki nods in accordance, but he remains for a while, Dragon turns to him once more, "Is there something else?"

Daiki narrows his eyes, "What will we do when we've found her... Wouldn't it be unwise to rescue her and risk the World Government finding out. She'd lose her status and we'd lose an asset."

Dragon smiles lightly, "I've already thought about that. We're going to leave a trail for them to follow and we'll lead them straight to her and have them assist her. That is, after we've found her."

Daiki smiles at his leader, before nodding and turning away to go carry out the things Dragon ordered him.

* * *

Garp was led by his men into the forest after they told him they discovered something that fits the description of aftermaths the 'Demon Wolf' has left in her wake. Garp eyed the blood and decomposing bodies thoughtfully. He'd seen this kind of thing before. He had no idea Pet was capable of this though. From what he saw of her fight, it did get messy with the blood, but this looked as if an animal had done it, albeit a neat and precise animal. He knew she used swords, but he didn't think sword users could make such a big mess. He noticed that the stains of blood on the ground and some of the bodies didn't add up so he figured that she showed mercy to some. It was only then that his men directed him to an even more gruesome scene a little bit away from the other carnage. This person was massive, but compared to Garp only a little taller and way more bulky. "We believe this guy is 'Thunder Clap' Raiden, sir."

Garp raises a brow at the name, he was given a small amount of history when Pet was assigned to him, he knew about her estimated kills, missions completed, and the number of pirates brought to justice. This apparently was her only loss, this bloody and mangled guy. She really cut into him and, yet, she supposedly lost. Garp had a very hard time believing that the esteemed 'Demon Wolf' would lose to this chump. It didn't add up with him. _That Pet is a mysterious one._

"I wonder how they ended up fighting. We estimate the time of death to be around the time the fire was said to have happened."

Garp thinks on this some more and comes up with various plausible ways to describe what occurred here, but to him, with the amount of people here or who were here, "In my opinion, I think this was an ambush, but Pet wasn't in the mood," Garp looks at the man who just spoke.

He smiles at him, "Sure does seem that way, doesn't it," Garp agrees before turning around and stating, "Good job, men."

He's led by another Marine to the house of the nobles Pet had dealings with on separate occasions. Upon searching the home, they discovered the dungeon below still had blood staining the very ground and there was an odd contraption of railings where one could be strung up. Garp frowned at the sight of it before his men told him, "This blood is only a couple weeks old, we estimate that it would have been spilled around two weeks ago."

Garp took this information in silence while he was slowly putting two and two together. When Garp ran over the statements of the Marines stationed in the Kingdom, he found a few small discrepancies in their stories. He left Bogard to deal with them after he was presented with their dialogues. _So, we found a snake pit. _

Back on his ship, he called Sengoku to inform him of the details. Sengoku answered, "Yes."

Garp replies promptly and without antics, "She didn't defect, she was set up and now can be considered a missing person."

The snail's face grows grave before Sengoku acknowledges, "Okay," he grumbles, "They're not going to be happy with this one. We have to find her."

Garp agrees, not because of his duty, but because of his concern. An image of his two grandchildren flash through his mind and their parting words to him, "_Find Pet ji-chan and have her come visit us again so we can ride on her back and hunt!_" Luffy was smiling so widely and even Ace stated, all chill, "_It'd be cool if you found her, ji-ji._" Usually the boy only showed open concern to Luffy, but he showed it for Pet as well.

Sengoku orders, "Keep the investigation going, Garp. We'll find her no matter what."

Garp barks laughter and Sengoku, the snail, pales as he laughs, "She's practically become a pirate now! Wanted Dead or Alive!" Garp finds the irony hilarious, but he doesn't understand how fitting it is for Pet.

* * *

The next few days seemed to go by very slowly, the Marines of the division on the island seemed to band together to watch out for each other, and Garp was angry at how corrupt this whole situation seemed. In bouts of anger he would bang his fist on someone's head, usually those not of his crew and even the corrupt Marines themselves. Little did he know that some of his son's people were conducting their own investigation, they could go where the Marine's could not, not legally anyways.

Daiki had taken it upon himself to journey with a few to investigate with him, while all their agents around the world were on the lookout for a tall woman with long slightly curled brown hair, brown eyes, but they can also turn yellow and seem to glow in that state. If in a fight, she can also grow long claws and has a cocky attitude if you talk to her. He added, "Ya can't miss her." She really leaves her mark where she goes. Daiki could not add to her description of carrying twin blades because they found when they reached Goa Kingdom that the Marines had found her katana in a noble's house, the one with the dungeon-like room.

Daiki was unconcerned of getting in the way of things, because they had already interrogated some of the underhanded people of the town as well as some of the nobles who knew of what happened. They made themselves out to be evil, but never stepped too far over the line to get the information they required. Daiki found out from his agents' dealings that the nobles' names were Sir Ruben and Lady Reina and they were respected people within the community. His agent, who had taken to disguising himself as a noble to invade their circles, discovered that they were killed most brutally for letting their guard down around "that one strong Marine gal." Daiki nodded at this information as he took it in, _It's seeming to lead more and more to Pet being dead. _

He continued to dread the worst, until they found a snitch within the lower class and more conniving folks of the town, and to Daiki's delight the snitch told his men, "Yeah, I saw that one Commodore, she was dragged off by these smuggler-looking guys. They seemed nasty, but were downright anxious after she killed those two nobles despite that special metal they used."

Daiki was intrigued by this information, _She killed them off despite being chained with Kairoseki? _Daiki smiled to himself, he and his men got to searching for those that might know where those smugglers were headed. Unfortunately for them, they found out that none of the other nobles knew about Ruben and Reina's plan of sending Pet away. He could only guess that it was someplace unpleasant...

After searching for anyone who knew the hired men and where they were for a few days, Daiki decided to use a different tactic. He and his men had yet to check out the Navy's information and he knew, for a fact, that they were searching just as rigorously for their mighty Pet. So, he went on a reconnaissance mission into the division building, and began watching the Marine's stationed there for any slips of information. He had those people followed by his underlings, while he and another sat and constantly listened to the conversations they had in the building.

Surprisingly, they didn't have to wait long for a new piece of information.

* * *

The Navy had sent many specialists to aide in finding Pet, and those corrupted that sent her away in the first place were really feeling the strain of the secret. Everyone seemed to be watching them and the group found that they had to stick together, while the others present went around asking everyone about Pet, including when they saw her, what she was doing, where she went next, and whether she had anyone with her.

Some had described seeing her with a peppy blonde that usually followed her around whenever she could. When the Corrupt were asked where this young blonde was, they merely stated that she tried following Pet into the fire and probably just couldn't keep up and got burned. They know the nobles told them that they would take care of the body and it's discarding, but after their house was combed through, those strained were worried that they would somehow dig it up and plant the seed of suspicion that the Marines present at this division are not so justice-upholding as they seem.

The night was a quiet one when the Corrupt met together, alone, in a secluded room within their division building. They set to discussing what they were going to do and fretting.

"Talking is not an option at this point."

"It would only make it worse for us."

"We have to do something, we can't just keep waiting around."

"Ugh! This is such a mess!"

"We really didn't think it through when we had the 'Demon Wolf' carted off."

"Yeah."

"Hey, where did they even send her anyways?"

"I don't know?"

"They didn't specify, huh?"

"No, no, I think they said they were sending her off to some kingdom on the Grand Line?"

"Right!"

"Oh yeah!"

"Haha, but where on the Grand Line?"

"Who knows?"

"Pfft, who cares?"

"Yeah, we got our own problems to deal with."

"We're over here and Pet's over there. I hope she's suffering for what she's putting us through."

Collective murmurs of approval ring out. The Corrupt go on to curse Pet and their lives before truly getting down to business, a rally to stick together and give nothing away.

Daiki and his partner smiled widely at each other after their den den mushi conveyed the Marines' words. Daiki sat back and stretched, "They don't know any more than this. We can stop."

His partner, a woman of lean figure and raven hair with silver streaks, the optimist reasoned, "Well, at least we can narrow our search."

Daiki nodded while rubbing his face before shaking his head and leaning forward, propping himself up with his elbows on his thighs, "We're going to have to get this message to the Navy somehow."

The woman's grey eyes glint as she narrows her eyes, "Why?"

Daiki smiles politely, "We need them to help. The Grand Line is a... well it's pretty grand... as in huge. We don't have the resources to do a large scale search, we need the Navy to help out."

Gena didn't appear convinced, "We don't like the Marines though? Why would we work with them?"

Daiki's face grows grave, he stands to his full towering height and turns to walk out the door, "A means to an end. We could use Pet."

Gena watches after him before she turns back to the den den mushi in thought.

Daiki walks down the hallway of the small abandoned building their little operation occupies, _She better be alive._

Daiki set to getting his people on the move, "Men, we have a new lead, our only lead. We have no reason to stay here any longer. We're taking this search to the Grand Line."

The men and women all turn to him and begin packing up and calling agents back. Daiki nodded to himself while watching them,_ We got all the information we could. I just hope there's enough time._

Gena soon came to stand beside him, she followed his gaze to the multitudes. Only twenty people were spared for this mission, but every other agent had the underlying order to be on the lookout for the famed Pet. Gena turns her stare back to Daiki's face and admires his smooth and narrow chin and cheeks. His eyes a charcoal color with a hint of dark blue specks matching his very dark blue hair. He wears a blue scarf with a black overcoat and black gloves. Gena returns to his face, after knowing him for so long, she notices his concerned features and the depths of his eyes, _He truly cares for her. But why? Why so much? What did she do?_

Gena turns her head away as Daiki brushes past. He heads to make a call, alone. Gena takes over as overseer, she's his second.

Daiki makes sure his call can't be tapped, the snail comes to life and Dragon's voice comes through, "Daiki."

Daiki responds, "Dragon-san, we found out, through tapping the Marine's division, that Pet is somewhere on the Grand Line. That was all the information they had, unfortunately, so we're packing up to meet up with you for our next plan of action. Do I have permission to discretely inform the Navy of her whereabouts?"

The snail remained still for a moment as Dragon thought before agreeing, "Yes, inform them, it will help us more than hurt us. I'll see you here soon then."

Daiki responds promptly, "Aye sir."

**-gacha-**

Daiki packs up his devices/animals and heads out to find the packing mostly finished. The five agents who were out on the field are now back. All they have to do is load the ship and inform the Marines. Daiki already has an idea on what to do for that. He smiles to himself and finds a pen and paper. Daiki asks one agent if she could write the letter he has in mind, she has the best writing, and he wants it to be fancy for some reason. Gena came over, soon enough, to peek around him, she's not tall enough to peer over his shoulder, sadly. He's a very tall guy and she reaches a little past his shoulder. Gena quirked a brow at the writing, but her lips pulled into a smile soon enough, "Really, Daiki?" Her smooth yet warm voice reverberates through the air, "Wow."

Daiki shrugs with a grin, "It's my sense of humor."

Gena pats his shoulder playfully, "The fact that you think this is funny is very sad."

Daiki grins down at her and his writer finishes with a fancy signature.

They drop the letter in the nobles' mailbox and make sure to mark it as mail inside so the Marines know to check it in the morning when they continue searching the house for any other clues.

* * *

_Dearest Ruben and Reina,_

_We absolutely adore the pooch you sent us. She's settling in very nicely and we hope to have her fully trained with some of our hired hands. You know the kingdom is lovely this time of year and we hope you can visit us and see our pet's progress. The only thing I wish weren't so boring is the weather, you know it never changes island to island, here in the Grand Line. _

_I'm afraid we've resigned ourselves to calling our little pet, Commodore, she just won't answer to anything else. Just another thing we wish the trainer to straighten out. But yes! Please send word soon, we invite you both to visit soon._

_From the Grand Line, with love_

_The King and Queen, as well as, our little Commodore Pet_

* * *

The Marines did, in fact, check the mailbox and were quick to give it to Garp. Garp smiled at the letter and tilted his head back to bark laughter, "Bwahahaha, Alright we'll take the bait!" He, in turn, got in touch with Sengoku, and the Navy diverted their search to the Grand Line on the various islands, but only the ones with kingdoms in place. Still, they had a lot of ground to cover and couldn't expect those involved to cooperate. The Corrupt breathed a sigh of relief at the leaving of the investigators, _Safe, _was the thought they all shared, they knew, however, that Pet was most likely dead by now and it was very unlikely she would be found.

Daiki was confident when he finally reached the Revolutionary base. He made sure to tell his underlings to wait on the unpacking before he got in to speak with Dragon and they would decide what they would do. He motioned for his top people to follow him and they made their way to the meeting room. They reached there in no time and Dragon came soon enough. His lip was slanted in a slight smile at their return and he sat at the head while they took seats around him and began explaining all their findings and what the Marines found as well. He took all the information in so easily and Daiki found himself admiring this legendary man once more. Daiki contained his laughter, _must be a fetish of mine, a person being legendary._ Gena mostly led the briefing and Daiki would occasionally add in whenever possible. The two others took the lead in some areas before they all finished. Dragon placed his arms on the table and joined them as if in prayer before looking at them all and deciding, "You all did a very good job. Now let's group your people into teams and add in some others to even it out into groups of three."

They mapped out all the islands they would have to visit and coded which ones the Marines would be going to, and which ones they would have to double check. They set out to work afterwards and dispatched many of their agents to various islands to begin crossing them off their list.

* * *

~Meanwhile~

Pet was having a grand time, absolutely wonderful. As wonderful as can be when you have nowhere to go and are incapable of moving your own body parts. She lay in the cushioned bed and felt completely out of her element. She had decided a while ago that she should probably gain her lucidity instead of her lapsing back within herself. _Princess woke up?_

_Shut up. I'm going through some things at the moment._

_Oh yeah, no, I can tell._

Pet sighed as she surveys the room she was locked in. A sudden surge of claustrophobia goes through her and she convulses slightly before taking deep breaths and calming herself down while her other half screams, _Must be free! Let me out! Kill!_

Pet frowns and raises her head still looking around, before resting her head once more. She saw nothing of import, just some expensive furniture and a window covered by curtains. She looks above her where her hands are chained above her head, but not too tightly this time. They offer her little comfort, however. Her ankles are much the same, but at least she's wearing clothes, which is always a good sign.

To be honest, Pet was stumped on how to minus herself from this equation, the kairoseki impedes her power and she doesn't have the strength to break kairoseki without it. She knew she would be waiting the rest of the day and the next, until she had real contact with her captors, but for now all she could do was wait. Waiting is what was killing her. She felt like a coma patient only awake and feeling her muscles slowly atrophy. _What a bummer._

Her inner wolf offered no advice, nor help, because the wolf was stumped as well.

Servants came in throughout the day and the next to give Pet food which she didn't mind taking and she soon discovered, she was past starving, but she couldn't fathom why she didn't look malnourished and emaciated. Her body was still full as if she were living perfectly healthy the past few weeks. She assumed she was gone weeks give or take, but all of those memories fade into nothingness and remain lost for all of time. No matter how hard she tried she just could not discern any memories and she was bored out of her mind. She thought that receding back into her mind could mean the loss of a chance to get out and free herself, so that was not an option.

Finally the big night came, Pet could hear the massive ball going on wherever in the castle and that was without her hyper sensitive hearing. She was moved and apparently set up properly for her 'master's' arrival, _I am soo not calling him master._

_If you do, I will fucking cut you._

_No need, I'll have already died of shame._

As she was being set up, Pet tried to move her arms in an unbelievably futile attempt to maim someone, but to her major dismay she discovered, _I'm drugged?_

_The food..._

_Damn it! Damn it all! That's the last time I ever eat food in this place! Never again!_

_...doesn't matter, we'll get weak if we starve our self more. We could do without some food for a while, now that we've had some though._

She remained still and the servants left her to her own devices. Her back was raised off the bed and her arms were now spread wide to the corners of the headboard. Her legs also had been spread, but she still wore her clothes. Finally two men entered, one very young and the other nearing the end of being middle aged.

The older middle aged man has graying brown hair with a not-at-all conspicuous crown atop his head. Pet found him not un-attractive while also not being attractive, either, what with the evil glint in his eyes. She determined this man to be very corrupt and also profiled him further as someone who deemed themselves above the rules. _Pfft, Kings._

_Am I right?_

Pet's eyes narrowed at him and then she met eyes with the young man by his side. He smirked at her defiant aura, at his reaction, a knot formed in Pet's stomach. _I don't like this._ Pet jingled her taut chains slightly. The young man had slick brown hair and a snobby face although he seemed quite fit for all his running about and being absolutely evil. He had broad shoulders and Pet found by estimation that she would probably have a good few inches on him if she were to stand at her full height right next to him. She smiled lightly at this and resisted the urge to stick out her tongue. _I will not resort to childish measures!_

_Do what you have to! And don't feel ashamed about it! I'm sure the gesture would be appreciated._

Pet wonders why her mouth wasn't left gagged, just seemed like the right thing to do. She listened to their conversation as they walked in. The king was very boisterous about his gift, "My dear boy, for your birthday I found you quite the woman. This woman here, is a Commodore and you would love the stories those Navy fools tell about her. She's also quite the looker, eh?" He nudges his son with an obnoxious laugh. The prince continues staring at Pet, his features appear animalistic and his eyes seem hungry. The knot in Pet's stomach becomes an uncomfortable stone as her stress builds. _I don't like the way he's looking at me._

She maintains her devoid expression. The prince then turns to his father, "She's all mine? To do with whatever I please?"

His father winks at him and nods with a wide smile, "Whatever you want to do with her or **to** her. You can do."'

The son smiles at him and they embrace while the younger exclaims, "Great, this is my favorite present by far, Father!" His father laughs and pats him on the back before they part and he begins walking out the door and telling his son, "Go nuts, kid. But be careful, I hear she's a feisty one." He closes the door and Pet stares at the door blankly before turning to the other occupant in the room. The prince begins circling her like a shark in the water, he wears an almost fanged smile.

He clears his throat before introducing himself, "Since I want you to know my name, I'll tell it, Blaine. I'm the prince of this kingdom destined to lead it someday. I'm always going to get what I want, and you have no power here. I'm in charge, so you better enjoy what I give you, or else face the consequences. I heard during dinner that you were a well known Commodore. Those stories were quite intriguing, maybe when you've settled in, you'll tell me some of them. I'd love to hear the gory details." _I'll show you them if you give me the chance._

Pet's eyes follow Blaine as he nears the bed and places one knee on it, shifting it's weight. He smiles as she reveals nothing, still. He trails his hand along her right arm, the side he's on. He inches closer and smiles at her clothed body and her big breasts. Pet's left arm twitches and the chains chink once more. His smile, if it were possible, grows wider at her misstep. He leans his head by her right ear while caressing her cheek, he whispers seductively, "I wanted you free to speak, so you could moan my name while I have a little fun with you."

Pet still reveals nothing as he then kisses her cheek but his hand gripping her chin stops her from edging away. She doesn't have the strength to fight him anyways. He continues holding her chin, while he looks down at her covered body before he pulls a knife from somewhere. Pet's foot twitches at the sight of it. He begins cutting her clothes off and admiring her form before beginning to caress her breasts and squeeze before licking her scars all the while commenting, "I guess I should have expected this from a Commodore." "Nice breasts." Then he reaches a hand down her toned stomach to her privates. "Not going to react? We'll see about that."

In a moment of weakness Pet turns her head away with her face scrunched up in disgust, she takes a big gulp of air and tries to pull herself together but the chains stop her. Memories begin flooding her mind and she feels pained and weak, like she did then. _Pet._

_Please... Daray._

_Pet...you...you said my name..._

_Daray. I'm begging you, please...take me away._

The black wolf within Pet's mindscape bows his head before raising it and staring at her, _very well, I'll help you get away for a little while. But you know it will be worse to come out than to escape for a time._

_Keep me away for as long as you can...only unless it's absolutely necessary or you can't hold it for longer._

_Pet. You know I don't condone this._

_...please..._

The wolf's howl echoes throughout Pet's mind before her head falls back and she lays limp. Before, she was all tensed up, and Blaine frowned when he saw her, he assumed, faint. Upon closer inspection, he found her eyes to be partially opened, but seemingly vacant. He grew angry and frustrated that she didn't respond in any way at all. Not to pain and not to any form of pleasure he could think of.

He left her to go complain to his father that something went wrong with his new toy and he demanded she respond.

Little did the two know that a certain black wolf sat in a meadow, within Pet's very mind, and kept watch like a guard dog on the goings on with the outside world and occasionally with a frown, turning to the other images of Pet in her true happy place.

* * *

~Years Before~

Pet was only eight years old and still shadowing this one Captain so he could teach her protocol and build up her strength, he's also the one who assessed her. The Captain's name was Norio, but Pet merely called him "sir." She spent a lot of time with him when she was present at Headquarters, when she wasn't sent out on a mission to deal with one issue or the other.

Norio was a man of simple caliber, he wasn't overly broad and he wasn't so imposing. Pet, actually upon spending time with him, deemed him a non threat, but she still grouped him in with all the other fools at HQ. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. His jaw line was semi-broad along with his chest, he still towered slightly over Pet, but he could tell she'd be gaining on him in no time. He was unaware of her circumstances but from the way she carried herself, she seemed like she belonged to the ranks of strong fighters among the marines. He, too, was a moral man who believed in his own Justice and his own way of dishing it out. He still followed his orders without question, well, maybe after the mission he would question. He still thought it was better than pirates anyway.

Pet was sitting cross-legged for a break and stared ahead at a wall of their private dojo when he impressed upon her his beliefs. Pet merely, "Hmm"-ed at his words which he found slightly unnerving. She was an unnerving child to begin with, but he could handle it. He wasn't privy to her real age, but he'd guess she were fourteen at the youngest.

From Pet's perspective, she found Norio endearing, but whenever they were amidst a sparring session she always got the upper hand on him and bonked him on the head while growling, "Quit pulling your punches on me!"

He was there to help her with her hand-to-hand combat. Norio happened to be a very good fighter within the Marine Ranks but, as with everything, Pet easily surpassed him after a few days sparring. The rhythm of the fight was what she followed, and she memorized and could predict his moves after a few sessions. He enjoyed those times, while Pet indulged him.

Norio knew she was indulging him, but he kept insisting on practicing because her indulging showed an inkling of caring and humanity. He wanted her to show some sort of happiness that children should have, but he didn't even know how young she truly was. She never exceeded his expectations, she remained solid and reserved in his every encounter of her. Little did he know, Pet enjoyed his antics, although she could never show she liked him. She knew he was temporary and so she didn't want to get too close. He was such a kindhearted person that she wanted him to leave HQ and the Marines, she wished him the utmost happiness, but he was an awkward fellow and didn't know how to talk with woman. Pet had convinced herself that she went to those sparring sessions only because she didn't want to be pestered by him, but deep down...she came because he was a friend.

It was an unfortunate day for Pet, when she was ordered that she would not be sparring with Norio anymore. Instead, a new higher ranking Marine would be assigned to her training, His name was Isao. Isao had the slim face of a snake, he was an elite swordsman of very tall stature, way taller than Pet was in her youth. If she met him as an adult, however, she'd be able to look him squarely in the eyes. She despised him and found no trouble in fighting with him, her style of fighting was already very advanced and she made it clear to everyone who questioned her ability with the sword, "My swordsmanship is fine, thank you."

Isao had long black hair with long strands of bangs cradling his face and black eyes. He was very strict with Pet and didn't seem to like her that much, or at least, not the idea of her. Isao and her trained the days she came back from lone wolf missions and her days off. She didn't complain, but merely did as he asked without question or fuss. He grew tired of her perfection and came to realize how futile his attempts were at provoking her or getting her to fail. She understood what he was doing, she just didn't respond to it.

Unbeknownst to her, Isao was intrigued by her manner and found that she would make a wonderful prize. Pet was aloof to this fact and she treated him as tersely as possible, until he decided to train her later than usual.

They were sparring with real blades and Pet's young body was already slower from fatigue, but she powered through her sweat. She wore no shoes and a black tank top with some black fitting tights. Both yin and yang glint from the overhanging lights in the spacious room. Isao wields one sword and his face is coated in his own sweat, they've been at it for hours. They stand in battle stance facing each other and taking a breather. Pet shifts one foot and then they're at it again, clashing and scraping steel against steel. Pet doesn't hold for long, she doesn't have the strength to overpower someone yet, but she's always been fast. She doesn't cut but holds the yang against Isao's neck. She smirks as he gulps before she stands back and he turns to her with a smirk of his own. Isao orders, "Very well, that's it for today."

Pet goes to pack her things before heading to her room. Isao's voice reaches her again as he asks with a demanding tone, "Would you like to go eat?"

Pet, without hesitation, replies, "No." She finishes packing up her things and heads to the door, but when she goes to open it, she's too tired to move in time as, she presumes the only other person in the room, Isao slams her head against the door. She drops her bad and slides against the closed door and against the wall before, in her dazed condition, she feels thin, but powerful arms catch her. _Well, this can't be good._

_I don't like where this is headed, Pet._

_Oh, you're here._

_Uh duh. Kind of stuck here, if you didn't notice?_

Pet ignores the voice in her head and tries to focus on the outside, her vision is swimming and she can't feel very well. Then she seems to become lucid and notes she's in a container of some sort, like a bag for carrying her. Then she muffles slightly when she's thrown on the ground. Yes, she deemed herself gagged on the way through the hallway with her hands bound behind her back. _Well, this is a first._

Pet then finds herself dragged out of her makeshift carrying device and face to face with Isao. She stares at him while he smirks at her before dropping her on the floor. _What, is he going to kill me? Get rid of me or something? Did I piss him off?_

_Knowing you, most definitely._

Pet remains stoic as best she can, when Isao begins telling her, "Such a fierce young woman. So strong. I want to see you weak, will you show me?" Isao smiles at her, "I would love to hear you whimper and beg, see you become powerless against me. Only for me. I'm going to make you mine, and people will see how I tamed you, a fearless woman, with so much strength, beside me." He advances on her and Pet tries to inch away, but he sits beside her and caresses her cheek. To say the least, Pet's stress levels are through the roof and sweat trickles down her skin. She's like a dear in the headlights and about to be run over. Isao leans in and whispers, "Don't worry, you'll accept me soon enough. This is just the beginning."

Pet stares at him with wide eyes as he grips her chin and goes in to snog her. And so the struggle begins as Pet tries to get away and Isao, in his frenzy, ravages her. Pet, for the first time in her life, screams for help. _No, no, no, I don't! Can't get away!_

Pet tries to ignore the pain and the feelings, _Not like this!_

_Pet! Calm down!_

_I need to get away! Please! _Isao grins maniacally as a few tears slide down Pet's cheeks and her look of wild terror. _Not- Not like this!_

Suddenly, Pet feels as though someone has pulled her from her body and she flies through the air. Her eyes, previously shut, now open as she sees arms in black sleeves holding her and then she notices her head against the chest of someone unfamiliar. She's much too in shock to speak as she looks up to find a very handsome face with spiked brown hair and glowing yellow eyes. Pet's mouth is open, but she doesn't know this person and she tries to get away from him. He's very tall and muscular in a lean way. His eyes pierce through Pet and make her very uncomfortable. She arches in his arms and holds her head with a pained expression as moments of the outside world reach her, the terror and pain. The man smiles sadly at her and hugs her close, his smooth voice delicately says, "You're safe here. I'm here."

Pet's eyes burst open and her arms lower slowly as she really looks at the man with a critical gaze, "You're...the wolf?"

He smiles at her and cocks his head, "Now she gets it."

She pushes away from him, bewildered, "How are you, I can see you? This is what you look like?"

He laughs and shakes his head at her, "No, I tend to look like a wolf, but I thought showing myself as a human might make you feel a little safer-" He stops as Pet glares at him, he smiles with fanged teeth.

"Really," she says, "you're in my head and you'd think I'd be more comfortable with people?"

He sighs and Pet notices his garb, he wears a black buttoned dress shirt and slim black jeans. She notes he has no shoes as well. Then on looking at her surroundings she notices a tranquil meadow with forest surrounding them. The man clears his throat, "So you're okay, then?"

Pet raises a brow before the memories come rushing back at her like a knife slicing through her emotions and causing them to bleed excessively. Her face changes to the panicked and the man rushes forward holding her shoulders as she shakes, he watches her every movement and seems to be sifting through her thoughts and glimpses. "Pet, calm down. We'll get through this. It's fine." He tries to calm her, but she can't hear him, she can't differentiate between being outside and inside, he sighs before bringing her small trembling form against his chest and cradles her, just rocking her back and forth like she were a baby.

Pet's eyes close and he sends her into her fantasy world, where everything is okay, her mother is singing to her and they're up talking in her room back in the South Blue.

The man watches in the room, a phantom she can not see. He wears a look of indifference, but behind his eyes, there is a shadow of concern. He disappears from her fantasy, a dream that he created for her. He goes back to the meadow and watches the occurrences outside with disgust. His anger grows, but he stands with his arms crossed and waits for Isao to finish with his fun.

When the snake does finish and leaves Pet alone, the man turns back to Pet in her dream. He rubs his face before gently easing her out and back onto his turf. He sits cross-legged and Pet appears before him. She looks at him calmly and he smiles lightly, "Better?"

Pet sits, as well, facing him and nods solemnly, "Thank you."

He waves his hand, "Don't mention it." He waits with a smile as she takes his silence to mean she can begin questioning.

"So, you're the wolf in my head?"

"The one and only."

"I thought you were supposed to be me?"

He shrugs, "Technically, I am, just the male version."

She looks skeptical, "You're older than me though?"

"You look well past your years too."

"Touche. But you still seem different. We're not exactly opposites or very different and we're definitely not the same."

"Very true. My name is Daray. I'm sort of a personality of yours, meaning I'm kind of my own person, just created from you and, unfortunately, stuck in your head."

"Sorry."

He waves his hand again in dismissal, "Don't worry about, it's not so bad."

Pet looks around, "So, we're in my head then... but how do you have so much power?"

He smiles, "Well I live here, one would think I would explore the place I live, maybe learn a few tricks. If you trained mentally instead of physically you'd probably have the control, but this way I can step in when you need me."

Pet nods, "Cool, I guess. Good for you... you said, usually you're a wolf? So like me, you change?"

Daray nods, "Yeah, although, in here I can. When you go wolf though, it's me that you're joining with. I am the wolf. So, in a sense, you're changing into my usual form, expressing me. Me, the you, that's hidden inside, that's what you're expressing."

Pet mouth makes an "O" and she nods. Then she turns to Daray, "What happened? I don't remember."

Daray nods with a serious expression, "You were hurt and to calm you I let you go somewhere that would calm you... We do actually have to deal with that now."

Pet cocks her head and Daray frowns, "I'm going to keep the emotion away from you, but I'll show you what happened and you can decide. Please don't lose it again."

Pet frowns as Daray watches her, he blinks and the images from her eyes are shown to her in a detached sort of way, but it still takes her breath away. When it's over she gasps and buries her head in her hands, "Wh-Why?" Daray continues frowning, "How do you want to handle this Pet?"

Pet looks up at him with light tears falling from her eyes, "I don't want to deal with it. Do I have to? I just want it to go away."

Daray continues frowning before his mouth curves upward slightly, "I can deal with that for you. Does this mean I have your permission?"

Pet meets his calm gaze and sees his confident smirk, she nods, slightly breathless.

Daray stands and Pet looks up at him, so confident and tall. She smiles despite herself when his form changes back to the wolf. A great black wolf stands proudly before her and it howls. Pet feels stronger.

Daray takes the place of Pet and he has control of her body as he lifts her head with her hands behind her back. His glowing eyes meet the sleeping form of Isao on the bed. Her body easily breaks the bonds with a smirk and rolls onto all fours with claws extending and fangs protruding. Daray stands to Pet's full height and growls menacingly. Isao awakens to the thunder in the room and he frowns at Pet's angry face and glowing eyes staring at him. His stomach drops as she pounces with claws extended and begins slicing his skin as if she were skinning him alive. He groans and moans, but he's no match for her in this state. Daray's cruelly taking his time with him and he dies slowly, blood pools in his bed and drips down it's sheets. Pet, or more accurately Daray laughs before quieting. He fixes Pet's clothes the best he can, before reverting back into a back seat driver and letting Pet have the wheel.

Pet takes control and calmly gazes at the carnage that Daray committed. Her eyes are vacant as she gathers up her stolen things and walks out of the room. As she does she's met with Norio who takes a step back at her appearance. She passes by him and he frowns at her before his breath is taken away by what she did to Isao. He can guess why she did it and isn't scared or threatened by her, but deeply sad as he recalls those empty eyes that turned to him. He knew she had killed more of herself after that experience and no matter how hard he tried, he'd greet her constantly and try to make conversation but she seemed less invested. She wasn't questioned about what happened and her higher ups decided that she could train by herself from then on, they figured it'd be better for her.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **There ya go, way more background and what not. So let me know what ya'll are thinking. Follows, Favorites, and Reviews are always welcome. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	12. She Is The Storm

**Author's Note: **Gyah! So tired -.- Alright next chapter out... muahahaha muahaha MUAHAHAHA...

Character(s) present: **Monkey D. Garp... **the others are more mentions, they don't really have an active role in this chapter.

So character mentions: **Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo, Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Dragon, Bogard**

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 11

I feel my smile growing wider as I watch them. They're so adorable, just running around and playing together. They want to be pirates and I think that's a wonderful idea. The youngest comes up to me with his D smile and he asks, "Pet, are you going to come and play with us?"

I cock my head before laughing slightly, "You should all run along and enjoy the air outside. I have to stay in, don't you remember?"

My smile lessens when he pouts at me, but Ace and Sabo call to him, from outside. He gives me one last look of discontent before running out of the house. I watch him go, but don't feel the urge to follow him at all. I shake my head and get up from the floor inside the house. I use the wall to support me before grabbing my cane. I begin my limp to the kitchen where my mother, Sakura, cooks. She's always taken care of me, despite my ailments and she's always loved all her children equally. Her father died a long time ago, but he left us many things in his name and we couldn't appreciate them more. We live in this large mansion-like house in the East Blue, I know it sounds fancy, but we live very humbly with lots of friends and family to care for, even strangers tend to be directed our way. I limp inside the kitchen and find my mother sitting on the counter right beside Law. Law turns to me with a smirk, "Take your time, gimpy-ya."

I smile, despite myself, "Thanks for the advice, Law-kun." He's very good at deflecting, but I know he's a real sweetheart, I can't find it in me to be angry with him. He came to us so very long ago with his trusted friend, we all call him Cora. I actually started that nickname for him. He's a tall fellow with some baggage, but that doesn't matter, I like to think that I can help carry other people's baggage even with a bum leg. It's never stopped me.

I sit beside my mother and she smiles gently at me, "Sweetheart, did I hear Luffy asking you to go play with them?"

Unfazed, I respond, "Yeah, he saw me watching and wanted me to join."

Sakura's pink eyes hold my brown as she places her gentle hand on my shoulder, "You should have at least gone outside for a bit."

I shake my head as an unexplained feeling of terror fills me at the thought of venturing outside, "I don't want to." I turn away with a slightly worried expression, _No matter what, I don't want to go outside._

Sakura gets up with a sigh and finishes making her grand dinner. I get up to help set the table and notice Law watching me out of the corner of his eye, _ugh, who does he take me for?_

I remember the day Law and Corazon first arrived, it was storming outside and they both looked hunted and tired. Cora seemed fairly okay, but Law appeared sickly with some odd disease. I was only eighteen at that time, but I still remember it, clear as day, their shared looks of relief when I ushered them in. I fussed over Law and cared for him while Cora, almost like an older brother, watched solemnly as I nursed his dearest back to full health. I'm fuzzy on the process, but something tells me not to think too much about it. Over the months, the boys and I grew close. I was a lonely child growing up, but I don't remember being so sad about it, all I know is the happiness and contentedness I feel now.

I take a seat and fix my leg into a comfortable position before turning my attention to dinner. I wait for Luffy, Sabo, Ace, Law, and soon enough Cora comes home. Sakura passes out the food and takes her seat before they all sit and dig in. That dinner was a fine time and I really enjoyed their company. Law with his slight tick at the antics of the younger boys and Cora smiling discretely at them all. My mother and I joined him in smiling. After I finished, I stood carefully and grabbed my cane to lean on before dismissing myself and hobbling out of the kitchen.

I still smiled because of my great mood, until in the hallway, on the second floor, when I turned to look out the window and saw pools of blood. I falter and my back bumps the wall in my shock looking out that window and seeing a horrible man coming towards me with a knife of some sort. The walls around me fade as if nothing and, for a second, I truly believe I am strung up and I feel all my blood gushing down my body. I can hear the dripping of it and it pools around me. That man comes closer and I'm about to scream, but as I do, I recognize my own hands covering my face before I look up and see the walls of my house in place and the window is no longer a doorway to hell. I gasp and clutch my thumping heart. I notice I fell over and lay on the ground. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to catch my breath. That was all just too real.

I hear footsteps and then, before a pause, they run to me and crouch beside me as Cora frets, "Pet! Are you okay?! What happened!?"

I try to sit up with a smile, but he sees my faces as he assists me in standing, "I'm fine. I just..." I trail off and grow silent.

Cora hugs me to him and we embrace, he states, "Then why the tears, baka."

I frown and realize that tears heat my face. He walks me to my room before I go inside and he leaves to go to his. After closing the door, I lean against it and can't stop thinking, _I don't want to go back there._

I have a nice sleep, without any dreams, and in the morning I get to work cleaning the house. I'm an early riser so I usually have it mostly clean for the day after everyone else gets up. Cora comes to check on me, casually, before leaving. I sigh after he leaves me to my scrubbing. My mother makes us all breakfast and we eat together, as usual. Over breakfast, Cora asks, "So Pet... Do you want to go for a walk with me?"

I finish chewing and look at him skeptically, he's avoiding my gaze, however, I turn to my mother when she cuts in, "I think that'd be a wonderful idea! Go out Pet, and get some fresh air."

I frown at her then look at him, "Not today, I have some things I want to do."

Cora nods while averting his eyes. Law looks between us and he asks me, "Are you going to teach me more about medicine?" I smile at him and nod, his faces brightens slightly before he goes back to eating his food. Sabo, Ace, and Luffy all whine, "You never want to spend time with us. You're always inside!" "Come play with us!" "Yeah!"

I smile lightly at them before sternly telling them, "I wouldn't be able to keep up anyways."

They huff before running out. Sakura turns to me once more and I can see the hard tint in her eyes as she reprimands me, "You'll have to go out sometime. Can't keep yourself in here forever."

I turn away from her before excusing myself. _Can't she see? I don't want to go outside. I can't explain it, I just don't want to go out there, yet._

I limp to our small clinic in our house. It's nothing huge, but there also aren't many doctors around town so they tend to come to me for help. When I hurt my leg, I tended to have a lot of free time to learn and practice before becoming an unofficial doctor. Law thinks I'm an expert for some reason, but he likes coming in to help me in tending patients. My mother and I have the money to pay for medicine, but I do have to charge a small amount when they come to see me. Everything's always straightforward and easy in our little clinic and I think Law mostly enjoys the actual practice.

He told me about his parents and how they were doctors. In his giving information away, he also asked about the story on my injured leg. I told him everything. I had grown up with a love for the outdoors and being active, but my mother and I moved here after some terrible events happened and how my actions led to a badly wounded leg and ego. There was nothing to be done about it. I had a lot of support, but I just didn't want to face the world anymore and so I hide myself away in this house. Law understood, but he also voiced his belief that one day I would have to come out.

* * *

Daray watched solemnly as Pet lived out her dream life. He sighed at her antics, _she really just does not want to come out, huh._ He understood why, even on a deeper level she knew that if she ventured outside her home in that fantasy she'd emerge from her dream and have to face the world. _The world, this world outside she's trying to escape._ He turns his broad head to the goings on outside, more torture, at this point they're just trying to get a response. When the Prince visits he seems extremely stubborn in insisting the hired men carry on, despite Pet's unresponsiveness. Daray knew he could make her move and talk if he took the wheel fully but he, too, was afraid. If he did grab that handle he'd experience all the pain Pet's body is feeling, but for now, it's all disconnected from him and her. It's as if he's reading the signals that show where it hurts, he sees it hurting and remembers the type of pain that goes with it, but he doesn't really know the full extent of it. He's afraid it'd be enough to drive him and her mad.

Still, when looking at her world, he set in place people to get her to accept it and come out, he wants her out. He wants her to face her reality and come out from it stronger than ever. For now, he can keep the lid on the pain levels so it doesn't spill out, but if she keeps ignoring those phantoms for long enough then he'll have to step into the line of fire. _I need to wake her up when there's a chance she can free herself._ He really doubted there'd be many of those, though. He silently prayed for someone to care just enough to find her or free her, heck, they could even do both for all he cared. He just needed someone to pull them out of this otherwise... they'd have to pull themselves out and that might be too much to bear. That one action of once again saving herself might lead Pet to be even more depressed, she always wants someone to help her, not because she can't do it herself, but because she wants the comfort that there are people there for her. She's a big girl and she can take a lot, but there comes a time when even Daray wishes that she'd stop waiting and help herself. She waited too long and Daray was stuck with having to help her, her last resort is to go to him, when she just can't deal with something herself she asks him to step in. Daray shakes his head and continues watching and waiting. _When the time is right, I'll get her out._

* * *

The progress on the Marines and Revolutionaries consisted of them searching island to island, every kingdom and every palace. The Marines would be all official and tiptoe around the sovereigns while the Revolutionary agents were more efficient in sneaking in and searching wherever they please. Daiki was losing hope that they'd find Pet alive. It'd already been close to a year since she'd been deemed missing and they had no way of knowing for sure whether they'd even been right to check off those islands already searched. He came across many Revolutionaries who didn't see the appeal in having Pet as an ally with all the stories. Many asked him, "Why are you trying so hard? Didn't she almost kill you?"

Daiki would narrow his eyes at the speaker and growl, "She didn't do that because she wanted to, and she didn't want to kill me, in the first place. She let me live." Dragon knew the story. Daiki had told it after he'd been rolled in on a gurney for all his broken bones and cuts. He'd been asleep most of the ride to base, occasionally waking in a daze before falling back into a deep sleep. When Daiki was fully aware, Dragon came in to ask him what happened.

Daiki remembers laying on his back in bed with multiple bandages and telling Dragon in a husky and underused voice, "The 'Demon Wolf' and I had a little chat."

Dragon frowned, "I've heard of them, an important person in the Navy that they send to get things done. You met them?"

Daiki nodded slightly before continuing and staring at the ceiling, "I met her. She's very powerful."

Dragon's frown deepened, "The great 'Demon Wolf' is a woman?"

Daiki grinned, "I'd always known the person could be a girl, but I always assumed they were a guy, but, sir, this woman, she told me herself. She was undercover to kill me or anyone of top status in the army."

Dragon raised a brow, "She was supposed to kill you? How come you're alive? The stories go she always carries out missions perfectly."

Daiki continued grinning, "She let me go. She killed a Commodore who's in the Marines, an ally. Then she let me go...well... after." He gestured to his current status as a bedridden patient.

Dragon stared at Daiki, who remained unfazed, "Why would she kill one of her own? Why would she let you escape with your life?"

Daiki grew serious, "She saved these kids that the Commodore almost killed. Then afterwards she killed him, I think she was upset with his actions towards those kids. I can only assume why she let me go."

Dragon nodded once while soaking up all the information, "She's a sympathizer? Did she tell you why she let you go, any information at all?"

Daiki nodded gravely, "I'm kind of fuzzy on the details, what with bleeding to death, but I think she told me her name was Pet and that it'd be better for her if I left the Kingdom for a while, and if it were kept secret that one of the Revolutionary's top ranks weren't there so she would have an excuse to not be able to kill anyone."

Dragon leaned on a wall with his arms crossed, thinking, "Did you give her a means of contacting us? It'd be good to have someone of her caliber as an ally, and her actions suggest she's not trying to bring down the Army or she's at least trying to work around it."

Daiki shook his head, "No, I was going to give her my number, but she put me down before I had the chance." Dragon nodded at his response.

"We'll have to wait and see with that one."

In the following months Daiki questioned whether Pet really was a sympathizer just because she decimated a vast amount of his army in that land. Dragon remained skeptical about her actions and she soon left the land. They eventually won, and both Daiki and Dragon had to wonder if she could ever really be an ally.

Now, without a doubt, Daiki knew she could be their confidant and Dragon agreed with him and his conclusion. After Dragon met her, he felt a bond being forged and it was a comforting thought that he wouldn't have to worry about this woman assassinating him or any of his men. Daiki always leaned more toward having a friendly relationship with Pet, he just thought they'd turn out to be friends one day. Now that Pet was in trouble, he felt it was his duty to help her as much as he could. As the days drew on and eventually turned to weeks, then even more months, Daiki was losing hope. To have a very thorough investigation took time and time was something they seemed to be running out of.

* * *

Garp was having way more trouble, he couldn't go certain places or do certain things without clearance, and he dreamed of the day he could clobber whoever started this whole search. He wants Pet back and he wants her back now. Life was being a real bitch and he grew angry. His subordinate had been missing a full year and a half. The Navy spent less time on the search, but Garp was still very immersed in it. He couldn't stop, the thought of his grandsons urged him on, but that doesn't mean along the way he didn't clobber any pirates he found. He tended to rampage about and really put the beat down on any pirates just because of how tense he'd been growing.

Garp also had the growing fear of what Pet would be like when she returned, she was only just making progress on opening up to him and loosening up. He didn't want her to come back a shell, having reverted back because of all her troubles that he could only imagine. The memory of meeting her was still prominent in his mind and he found her to be a very strong woman.

He especially liked when they were in the middle of an all out brawl and seeing Pet simply put pirates down without even giving them a scratch. She rarely ever had to draw her swords, or claws for that matter. The times she did were magical. He'd watch with crossed arms and a set face beside his swooning men as she gracefully unsheathed her swords or extended her claws, either way there was a dangerous beauty about her, a refined talent that Garp respected.

He was hanging out on his ship one day awaiting the new member of his crew when he saw her, she wore a look of solidarity and walked with an air of authority. _This one must have a complex, _he thought to himself. She came to him and saluted before he waved his hand while telling her, "At ease." Her arm fell to her side, but she didn't seem like she ever relaxed. She met his gaze before stating, "Commodore Pet, reporting in."

Garp frowned at her rigidity, "We'll be heading to the North Blue to patrol those waters." Pet nodded while remaining in place, Garp asked, "Yes?" Pet frowned for a fraction of a second before shaking her head and adjusting her attitude to Garp.

"Nothing. When do we set sail?" Garp noticed the change, _she just adapted. _

Garp smiled that D smile, "Soon!" He left her while laughing without restraint. She continued frowning and watched him go.

They set sail and Garp tried to strike conversation with Pet while she distanced herself from everyone. His underlings took his lead but, in the end, Pet only ever gave obsolete answers and Garp grew angry at her responses. He tried bonking her on the head, but to his dismay she caught his wrist, when he put more power into it she held her ground, none of them moved an inch. She declared, only loud enough for him to hear, "I am here to do my job, it is not in your job description to be my friend or whatever." Garp smiled down at her which only seemed to unsettle her.

He took his fist away while laughing, "You're an interesting one." Pet narrowed her eyes at him. He caught the flash of yellow, but couldn't miss the fangs protruding. Unbeknownst to him, Pet had the inner struggle, _To chomp on his neck or to not chomp on his neck, decisions, decisions. _He saw her fangs retract and she turned her back and walked away. He faced his men with a smile while muttering sheepishly, "Maybe we should let her come on her own?" He grinned while rubbing the back of his head.

Then they stood side by side on his ship with Bogard on his right and Pet on his left. An enemy pirate ship nearing them, Garp turned to his left while ordering, in a questioning tone, Pet, "You have the Captain, I want to see you fight." She nodded while keeping her eyes on the ship, but he saw the satisfaction shine for a moment. Garp's smile grew wide when the ships began exchanging cannons and he began throwing his, but he only aimed to stop the pirates from leaving and let Pet onto the ship. Pet had a different plan in mind, however, with a genuine smile she braced herself before hopping into the air and ordering, "Throw!" He waved his hand with the same amount of force as if he were throwing a cannon ball and Pet used his force while adding a bit of her own as she sped through the air and with a flip landed gracefully on the deck of the enemy ship. The only sign that anything had made contact was the rocking of the ship and cracks forming around Pet's landing zone.

She straightened out while smirking at the pirates surrounding her. Garp halted his assault and watched with a wide grin. Bogard wore a light smile as well. Pet, in a wisp, appeared behind the Captain. Even Garp had trouble following her movement. His jaw may have dropped when all the crew fell to the ground, unconscious. The Captain jumped away while angling to face her, all the while, he was fretting over his fallen comrades. Pet cocked her head and grinned with her hands clasped behind her back, she asked, "Surrender?"

Garp almost hoped for a moment that he was the fighting type, but they got the coward instead. He surrendered while crying about life being unfair. Garp's battleship pulled up beside the pirate ship and arrested all the unconscious pirates along with their Captain. Then they confiscated anything of value and left the ship to sink. Pet was applauded and Garp clapped her on the back. She wasn't fazed at all by it and took the praise with dignity and humility. Every time she fought, it was a true spectacle. Garp greatly admired her fighting skills and her technique, but he frowned upon her social skills, he desperately wanted her to loosen up.

He decided on the way to visit his grandsons after Pet stated, "I have no family, just my duty to the Marines," that he wanted her to have a family and he was more than willing to share. He thought it would loosen her up, but now he's afraid it would all be undone.

* * *

Daiki almost jumped for joy when he got a new lead on Pet's whereabouts. Apparently, there was some suspicious activity in one kingdom named Exaltia. Agents, while there, by chance, heard some servants gossiping about the Prince's determination to make his toy work again. They said something about, "the poor girl." That was enough to send Daiki on his way with Gena in tow. Daiki made land in no time and hurried with Gena and the rest of his team behind them, they all headed to the castle. They slipped in quietly and got to searching the rooms for any signs of Pet. They kept out of sight and were never found.

Daiki scaled a wall down to a window, all because he couldn't get into the room, without being spotted. He had his lookouts at the top while he slid down on the rope. He came to the window to peer inside and what he saw took his breath away. He turned away after a moment of seeing Pet, her whole body was drenched in blood and her hair was matted with it. She wore torn clothes that hung from her and yet when he turned back, he still saw power. She was not emaciated and she was not skin and bones. She appeared dead to the world, but Daiki still expected her to animate at once and berate him for taking so long. He grew angry, he wanted to bust her out while he had the chance, but he knew, he had to let the Marines save her, this time.

He grit his teeth together and snapped a shot of her before heading back up to call off the search and send the evidence to Garp, the leading man on the Marine's investigation. Little did he know, Pet twitched after he left.

* * *

Daray lay in a pool of blood, his meadow long ago changed into a desolate land of dead foliage. _Two years, it's been._ He changed into his human form while lying on his back, facing the cloudy skies. _I'm going to murder her when she comes out._ He laughed, but regretted it immediately after he began coughing up blood. _I don't get it. Why do I have to feel all her pain when it's supposed to be hers! How is this even happening..._ His own clothes were torn and he felt all the pain of her body, but kept it within so she wouldn't show it. In doing this, he manifested her wounds as his own and this horrible picture of his sorry ass was what occurred. He smiled, blood on his chin and his hair unkempt, _I'm going to make this bitch pay. Time for her to wake up._

His eyes widened as a sound reached his/her ears, silently and without disturbing anything Daray made Pet's eyes look at the window and he saw the retreating form of someone. Her eyes were underused and dry, he could only make out blurs, there was also the issue of blood clouding her vision, but he tried to see past it all. He let her body snap back in place, the whole time it took was a few mere seconds, an outsider would assume she twitched. Daray weakly placed his hand on his stomach while lying on the ground and huffed, _now they show up, huh. Some savior! I'll kill them too for making us wait so long._

He calmly watched the sky and set in motion the events that he think would get Pet back on her feet. Now he had proof that someone cared about her, she can take over from here.

* * *

Pet smiled as she sat talking with her family. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. She frowned slightly and Cora stood up to go get it. Cora called her and she stood, then limped to the door. She noticed her family's faces as she went, they were all so sad. Pet walked to the front door, down the never ending hallway. She came to the door and saw Cora looking at her with a solemn expression. She peered outside and found a man completely covered in blood on the ground outside. _How did he knock on the door if he's over there? _Her breath leaves her as she really takes note of his condition, his tattered clothes, matted hair, a pool of blood already surrounding him. Her panic and alarm begin to rise and she looks at Cora, "Get Law."

Cora smiles at her before gently shaking his head, "Can't do that." Pet frowns at him before turning back to the man and seeing her mother and adopted brothers outside. Phantoms, unknown to her eyes, deal similar wounds to them before they, too, fall. Cora continues watching her despite the massacre outside, "What are you going to do, Pet? Your family needs you, in more ways than one."

Pet grips her cane while looking down at her leg, Cora follows her gaze, "Are you going to let that hold you back, forever?" Pet bites her lip and is torn between the feeling of wanting to save her family, but also the unexplainable fear of venturing outside. She looks at Cora before he, too, heads out, "Time to make a choice."

Pet drops her cane, and on instinct alone, grabs Cora's arm and throws him back into the house while she makes her way down the porch steps to her family and the stranger. Pet looks back at Cora for one moment and she locks gazes with him, as he smiles at her, "Take care of them." Pet gets the sudden urge to throw up as she takes a knee and makes the change, the dream becomes a dream, and reality comes back to her. She's still cut off from her current feelings, but she materializes on hard dirt.

She looks up with her face set in stone. Her eyes search about her and she surveys the land. _Where am I?_

She turns and right beside her is Daray, the man she saw in her fantasy that was a bloody mess. _Now I know why, at least. _She stands at his side and her eyes calculate his condition. She kneels beside him as his unseeing eyes open, the yellow is a dull color, the light is gone from them. She frowns, "What happened here?"

Daray raised a brow at her words, but he didn't seem like he had it in him to sass her anymore, let alone talk at all. He raises the hand from his stomach and Pet grabs it. She holds his hand and all his knowledge is made known to her. She lowers her head before her eyes meet his in defiance, she screams, "Why the fuck didn't you tell me it was this bad already! I would've fucking come out! Especially after that little stunt you pulled to get me out! Look at you! You poor excuse for a wolf! Where's your pride in having a pack! I'm your fucking pack! Don't hesitate to have me deal with this just because I asked to you to go as long as possible! You waited too long, now look at you!" She huffs in anger, Daray smiles weakly at her, "Don't give me that look, you fucking prick...Oh, right! You're a lone wolf huh? Get over yourself, I could deal with this anytime I want, all you had to do was knock on the door and dangle my family and I'm here! Was it really so hard?"

Pet was furious at her wolf, she never meant for him to take the pain on himself, she just wanted to put off dealing with the issue for a while, until it was a bit more manageable. He should have known. Daray continues smiling at her, and she gets the message, she responds with, "You bet your ass I'm dealing with this. Look at you, like you can take anymore. I got this, Daray, don't worry about it. Consider me back and fucking pissed." Daray laughs silently before he begins coughing blood and Pet's features show worry before she lays his torso on her lap with his head against her curled leg. His eyes close and she holds him close with a frown. _Stupid wolf, stupid pride._ She sighs before looking at their surroundings once more, she muses, "Daray, you really outta lighten up the place." His eyes remain closed, but they still hold hands and he answers through connection, "My fault? As far as I'm concerned, it's your fault for not pulling me out sooner. How long has it been anyways? ... Two years, huh. I've missed so much already."

Pet thinks on Luffy, Sabo, Ace, everyone else. She sighs before gently laying Daray back on the ground, "I'll be right back, I'm going to hopefully get us a room change." She releases his hand and lays it by his side. She stands a bit away from him before she reconnects with her body, getting a glimpse of the pain her body's experienced.

She's in the middle of a torture session, her chains clink as her body convulses while her torturers look on with shock and behind the shock, absolute delight at a reaction. Pet raises herself to her hands with a look of pain as she gasps for breath before falling once more and reverting back to a disconnected state. In Pet's mind, she kneels on the ground with a lowered head while she pants. She's a little shaky, before she takes a deep breath and calms herself. The shivers are dispelled and she raises her head and turns to Daray. She crawls over to him and lays on her side, using her curled arm as a pillow while she stares at his bloody face. She's on her left side and her right arm slides over before she grasps his right hand. Tears fall down her face, she sends the message without having to say it, _I'm so sorry, Daray, that that was the amount of pain you were in. I'm here now, I'll handle it. Just rest. _

The idea of pain doesn't faze Pet in the slightest, she has the resolve to overcome it. The only issue she has with pain is it makes her head a little fuzzy. She lays beside Daray while holding his hand. Her tears are gone and those feelings of sadness and sympathy have changed to pure hatred. Pet has serious issues with people taking the fall for her or sacrificing themselves for her sake, never before has she ever given anyone the chance to do that for her, and Daray just did. Although she was extremely touched, now she was slightly angry, not at him, more like the people who made him hurt in the first place. She had to take some of the blame herself, and that was what she had a problem with. She had to take the blame, despite never asking him in the first place to share her pain. All she could do now was wait. The waiting was time for her anger and hatred to grow, and the desire to wreak vengeance and havoc on the whole castle became stronger than ever before.

* * *

Finally, the time has come. Pet's eyes open from where she lay, Daray continues sleeping. In his sleep, he wheezes, probably from a punctured lung. She lets go of his hand before rolling away and standing. She smiles as she feels the moonlight on her skin. She hasn't reconnected fully with her sensors yet, but she knows she's no longer in a dim and dark dungeon room. She's upgraded slightly and she's happy there's a full skylight. She could laugh, the moon is just above her and its light bathes her in its power. _Yes, this is the perfect time to strike. _She's learned with her Devil fruit power that the moon is her source and when it's out and full, she's at her strongest. With a deep breath and a glance at Daray she plunges back into control and reconnects fully with her body. Every incident of pain and torture that it's experienced comes plowing through her. She remembers it all, and it's only worse because it's all at once.

She convulses from the memories and her hands form fists while she curls into herself, the moon strengthens her and in her pain, she screams. Her scream is long and piercing and is cut from her voice as she builds her strength and her eyes open showing a new shade of color, a bright and glowing red.

The Kairoseki is nothing to her and it shatters at her strength. She falls before landing on all fours while panting, she looks at her hands, but everything looks red to her. Her claws dig into the pavement and her unkempt hair falls around her. She looks up with a breathy cackle, and sets forth the most terrifying growl one can ever encounter. Looking back on that moment, Pet only regrets that the servants heard it. Later, when taking account of what happened that night, many swear it was as if a demon had been summoned and the apocalypse was upon them.

Pet smiles with long fangs, her teeth had all been shaped into that of a wolf's and her already toned appearance became ripped. She stands and some guards come in to see what all the commotion is about. She smiles maniacally at them, she doesn't see them as a person, she sees them as what they are: her prey. She cocks her head while her eyes freeze them in place, the smell of piss and shit reach her nose and and she throws her head back in a throaty laugh. She lunges forward and impales one guard where he stands, mind you, straight through his armor. She pulls her arm out with a crazed look, if her blood was dried before, now she has new fresh blood dripping. She adores the smell of it and turns her gaze to the other man, still frozen in fear. He has small tears streaming down his face at the sight of her. She pounces on him and digs her teeth into his neck and savors the tasted fear in her mouth. She stands from her place atop him with blood still dripping down her chin. She hears the sound of footsteps rushing toward her. She bursts forward intent on meeting them.

The guards stopped in the middle of the hallway on their way down to the dungeon area. Right in the middle, on all fours, before she stands to her full height, is Pet. They stopped, she didn't seem human anymore. Her actions were based on a bestial instinct. She had stood and smiled at them, blood dripped from her mouth and down her arm. They were frozen just as the others. Pet walks forward a bit, but to her dismay they seemed to be too scared to move. She cocks her head and growls, "I like it better when my prey runs." They begin shaking in their boots at the sound of her voice, it wasn't human either, it was deep and rumbling, as if it were laced with rolling thunder. She sighs before massacring them all. The teaching that one should not play with one's food, in her case, never stuck. She turns back to the heap of bodies before following her nose to find more. She had two people she especially wanted to hunt.

She left the servants alone, but that doesn't mean, by appearance alone, she didn't give them the scare of a lifetime. They had heard the stories that they were harboring a powerful person, but no one ever mentioned how downright frightening she was. Pet would smile as they covered themselves as she walked by, some fainted, while others would beg and plead. She found it all amusing, but not worth her time. She didn't even spare the children the sight of her. She was on a hunt, whoever was in her way, was mere collateral damage. She killed any guards when she could, anyone that stood in her way depending on her mood was either torn apart or maimed or, as a way of showing slight mercy, she would cut their throat with her claws. She doesn't know how many she murdered, honestly, she didn't care and will never care. She saw them all as not just her enemies, but beneath that level, they are her true prey.

Hey, she was in the mood for a party, and to her, party and massacre mean the same thing.

After "cleaning" up the trash she finally found the great hall of the palace, barricaded, nonetheless. She laughs to herself as an army of guards stand in her path. She drags her claws down in the air in front of her before releasing a powerful howl that carries the slashes, which in turn cut the men in their armor and then carries on to the massive doors. The doors were cut down and the army decimated. Pet finishes howling as her slashes have down their job. The men lay dead in front of her, those caught in the slicing wind, at least. They were cut in various methods depending on which slashes met them, some were lucky and only had arms or legs missing while others had their heads, chests, or whole torsos dispatched from the rest of them. Pet makes her way across the newly made graveyard. She yearns to go and play with those screaming and writhing in pain. She could yell at them to shut up or tell them that writhing will only make death come fast, but the smell of fear taints the air in front of her, right now all she smells is the fresh blood and death. Fear is her favorite smell and it draws her forward past the blood bath.

The smell carries from the hall and she knows, as it only gets stronger, _they have no where left to run._

She reaches the wrecked doors and finds the King and his son hiding in the back behind a cover of servants from the palace. Pet cocks her head at the sight of them, she still wears an open mouthed smile. Her fangs catch in the moonlight and others' blood drips from her. Her vision is still in different shades of red, she doesn't care about faces and who these people are, all she knows is the hunt and her anger. Her hatred manifested into red orbs that make her eyes glow with it. She tilts her torso to the side from where she stands, her fingers curled like claws even with actual claws extending from them. The King and Prince are shouting at her or begging her, but she doesn't hear them, she's being selective, she tells the sacrifices, "If you continue to stand there, it will not sully my conscience to kill you all. Either leave with your lives as if God, himself, were showing you the path or stay and I'll give you a glimpse of true hell. My business is with the two behind you." Pet waits and many begin running, they give her a wide berth in their flight. Pet's eyes remain fixed on the King and Prince. To her dismay, none of their sacrifices chose to remain and the two seem upset about it too. Pet begins walking forward and in the background hears the screams of terror as those servants make their way past Pet's mess.

She cackles at them before going forward and getting in the face of Blaine, he flinches visibly while she is looking down at him. She towers over both of them. She stands for a moment and time seems to halt before her smile grows wider and she stabs him in the shoulder with her finger. She jumps back laughing while he grips his wound with a look of pain. She tilts her head watching him before dealing a few more good stabs while the King merely stands by, awaiting his turn. Blaine says, "You won't get away with this." She circles her prey with a look of detached glee.

"And you won't make it out of this. I win." She pounces on his back and he slams on the floor with a thud and a cry of pain as she digs her claws into him before dragging her claws down his back as he screams in pain. Blood splatters her face, but it's no matter, her vision is already the color of it. It seems right to give the world a reason to be this color, and the only way she can accomplish this is by draining her enemies of theirs and using it as paint. She bathes in it and her eyes grow wide and she grows hungry for it, she falls into a frenzy. She kneads her claws into him like a cat on the carpet. He continues screaming and gurgling before his breath leaves him. She throws herself from him and lays on her side watching his face and the way it expresses pain, he dies that way. It's a magnificent thing when he dies, his face will forever be etched into the look of pain she gifted him with. She rolls over and rises on all fours before turning her head skyward and releasing her howl. The strength of the wind generated from it cracks the ceiling above her and the windows shatter around them.

She stops when she sees the King beginning to run. He's shouting and waving at something, but she doesn't care. She jumps and lands on his back before sinking her teeth into his neck. He falls to his knees and she releases him. She walks around to see his face of pure terror. She barks laughter while cocking her head, really studying his death. She relishes it and she pushes off the ground and twists over him dragging her claws across his chest and neck. He falls face first with a splat and she sees him gurgling and sees the blood flowing. She takes a deep breath scenting the area and raising her head to the sky once more. Here in this moment, she is at peace.

She turns to the voices, at the edge of the hall, she didn't notice before. She is drunk and she still feels like she could let off some steam. She still craves blood. In a phase, someone is about to punch her, she dodges easily and stabs her right arm in the person's lower left abdomen.

_This person...their smell..._

Her red eyes meet with black ones. She disengages her arm quickly, disbelieving. She steps back as terror grips her, her anger and hatred dissolving. She clutches her head, "I-I d-didn't know..." She whimpers and takes a knee at the sight of the blood dripping from his wound, the wound she created.

She shakes her head still holding it before lowering it, she raises it at his laugh, "It's all right, Pet."

Tears form in her eyes and stream down her cheeks, she cries, "I-I'm s-so s-sorry, Garp."

Garp smiles at her while he clutches his stab wound. Pet begins shaking while crying before her strength leaves her and she faints. Her unhealed wounds, no longer halted by the moon's power, begin bleeding once more and she aches in her sleep.

* * *

Garp was sitting at his deck with his face buried in his hands as his anxiety levels were strained. _Two years and no word of where she might be. _Garp went into fits of rage whenever they came across a dead end or an uncooperative kingdom. His men would be holding him back as he threatened to beat the lot of them to a bloody pulp. Garp raised his head and composed himself when he heard a prompt knock at the door. He leaned back in his chair and told them, "Enter."

One of his men entered and saluted him before he waves his hand at him and motions for him to state his business. The man states, Garp notices he's brimming with excitement, "Vice Admiral, sir, we've just got this letter from an anonymous person saying they're from the kingdom of Exaltia and they sent this picture...and a letter."

Garp raises a brow and takes the letter and photo. He looks at the letter first and reads it:

_To whomever it may concern,_

_I'm taking a risk in sending this letter, but I can not bear to watch anymore. They're killing her painfully and slowly. I believe you are searching for a Commodore called Pet. She is here, in Exaltia, she has been here for far too long. She needs your help and I can do no more. Please come and save her. If you don't believe me then I've also taken a picture and added it as proof. Hurry!_

_Anonymous Servant to the King_

Garp turns his attention to the photo, a nice shot, but what he sees makes fists of his hands and crumples the letter and photo. His serious/angry face turns to his soldier and he growls, "Make way to Exaltia."

Garp stood abruptly from his seat and followed his man out, he began barking orders and they started their course to Exaltia, a small kingdom on the Grand Line. Garp stood rigidly as they worked their way as fast as they could to the island.

By the time they reached it, it was nighttime and the full moon was out. Garp had decided to turn in and deal with beating the King and Prince into oblivion in the morning, but he stopped on his way to his quarters. His men still out on the deck looked at each other too before turning to him.

On the wind they heard the sounds of people, distant sounds, running for their lives. They were screaming and rushing and Garp and his men could just barely make out the masses rushing out of the castle. Garp frowns and turns to his men before they gather some more and go to face whatever monster lurks in the shadows. The servants and such had crowded around outside and many were holding each other while shaking in fear. Some ran up to him and begged him not to go inside, while others, with more faith, turned to him and seemed to grow hopeful that he would slay the beast.

Garp made his way inside and, in all his years as a higher ranking Marine officer, what he saw moved him. He didn't hesitate to reassure his men and order, "Whoever doesn't have the stomach for this, go outside and get statements from the crowd gathered there."

Many of his numbers thinned, but Garp moved onward with those brave few right beside him. He waded through the blood while maintaining his seriousness, he could hear cries of pain down the hallway and he walked toward the sound. His Marines stayed closed. They came to a great hall where many lay dying or dead. When they past it, they came to stand at the doorway. Garp couldn't believe his eyes, as he watched Pet, her movements were like an animal. She was covered in red and, from the distance, he saw her face, it wasn't human emotion that she expressed. She seemed unreal. He assumed from the silence around him that his men were holding their breath at the sight. Garp realized that his breath had left him as well. Pet raises her face in her crouched position and lets out a reverberating howl that sends waves of power from her. He sees the cracks and the walls and ceiling crumple slightly from her voice. He can feel this cry in his soul, it aches with the message, "Justice has been served."

He turns to the King now waving to them, "Oh Marines!" He tries to run to them but, out of the corner of Garp's eye, Pet stops her howl and her red eyes lock onto the King moving towards them. The King is ordering, "Kill her! I order-" he's cut off as Pet pounces and Garp's eyes widen when she chomps down on his neck, the shocked King falls to his knees and she releases him. Garp fidgets slightly before Pet has angled her body around the King and cut his chest and neck. Garp moves forward slightly when the blood begins gushing down his torso. Five long jagged lines are side by side from the bottom of his jawline to the upper sections of the King's breasts.

Garp is reminded of the frenzy wolves experience during a hunt as Pet circles to the front of the King, now on the ground with his liquid life draining from his wounds. Her moves are still animalistic as Garp watches her cock her head and he assumed she laughed, but he could only make out strange barks. She raises her head to the ceiling and Garp takes a step forward, he analyzes the emotion in her look and all he can make out is the pleasure and strangely peace. It hits him hard, _She feels as though she did a righteous thing..._

Garp averts his eyes for a moment, adding in his own look of pain, before turning back to her as her red eyes focus on his group. On instinct, Garp steps in and moves to punch Pet out of her daze. He notices, too late, that she's reacting on instinct as well and hers are more in tune, she has the advantage when it comes to strong instincts. Garp doesn't have time to dodge as she jabs him with her arm. He merely stops and lowers his arms while looking down at her. He studies how her face changes after her red eyes burn into his, but he doesn't fear her and maintains his gaze as she pulls out and stands back.

He notes how her eyes' glowing dim and morph from red back to their regular brown. His hand moves to clutch the gaping wound she created, but he continues merely watching. His expression shows the pain of parent and their plight in watching their child break down. She clutches her head as if a piercing sound tore through her before she whimpers and takes a knee, shaking and then lowering her head.

Garp cocks his head at her, he's not angry or even really "hurt" but sad because he knows she's in a lot of pain from this. He laughs, despite himself, and tries to reassure her. She looks up and allows him the vision of her tears falling onto the blood soaked ground, she cries in strain, "I-I'm s-so s-sorry, Garp."

Garp smiles at her, he means for her to know that there's no hard feelings, but she doesn't understand him. Her shoulders shake then her whole body as she cries before stopping. He doesn't step forward when she falls and lays in a heap of herself.

He frowns at her before looking around and sighing, "You really know how to make a mess, don't you, Pet?" Garp turns to his men who were watching the scene. He orders them, "Go contact Headquarters and tell them we've found Commodore Pet and we need more people to clean up. Also get the medics." The men snap out of their daze and dash out the way they came. Garp looks down at his bleeding wound, he's had worse, but that doesn't mean the thing isn't annoying or pose a threat to his health. His eyes make their way back to Pet's unconscious form, he walks over to her and hefts her, by her tatters, onto his shoulder. He makes his way out, no longer having a reason to stay in the castle.

His mind replayed the looks in his mens' eyes, he frowns, _they're afraid of her now._

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Done! FanFiction was being mean to me and made me have to redo all the corrections I made... and I made a lot... -.- so tired. Alright, I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who's Followed, Favorited, and Reviewed. Those are always appreciated. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	13. Recuperating

**Author's Note: **I promise ya'll ONE long chapter and now I'm in the habit of writing them longer... oh well, more for you then. I did my best to not make this a super slow chapter and added some action bits here and there but nothing heavy duty. The heavy duty stuff will come later.

Anyways, Character's present: **Monkey D. Garp, Sengoku, Aokiji/Kuzan, Kizaru, Akainu/Sakazuki**

Do ya'll want mentions? If so, here: **Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo, Vegapunk, Shanks, Nico Robin**

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 12

Garp walked out of the castle with one arm on Pet's back while she hung limply over his shoulder. He frowned when the Marines outside flinched at the sight of her, the others flinched merely because of how unrecognizable she was. His medics came up to him with a stretcher and he laid Pet down on her back. His features changed to looks of sympathy and anger when he saw her face. She still seemed haunted even in her sleep and she had multiple puncture wounds and slash marks all over her figure. This was the first time he realized that the blood he heard dripping from her was not just from those she killed, but it also mixed with her own.

The medics rushed her away and he turned back to his men as they dealt with those who had escaped. One marched up to him and told him, "Sir! The Navy is sending people right away."

Garp simply nodded before following Pet's stretcher, he needed some medical attention himself. He got onto the ship before heading in and getting himself patched up. One of the medics informed him, "With how much trauma Pet's body has sustained we would expect her condition to be dire...in this case, however, we expect her to survive, but it'll take time. She has approximately one hundred and fifty fresh wounds totaling all slashes and puncture marks, while we see evidence of over one thousand wounds summed up...We would expect this since she's been captive for two years..."

Garp watched the man in silence for a moment before sighing then acknowledging, "I see."

* * *

Daray leans on a tree trunk, the landscape has changed back to the meadow surrounded by forest. He's not back to full health, but he's much better now that Pet has reconnected and is taking on all the wounds. Daray shakes his head while he stares up at the sky, _that chick is really something._ His eyes glow their brilliant yellow and go to meet hers when she appears a ways away from him with her back to him. She turns to him and their eyes meet, she smiles at his sitting position and bright eyes.

She moves over to him and sits cross legged next to him. He turns to her and studies her body, no longer drenched and oozing blood, but the wounds are all visible. She follows his gaze and sighs at her appearance, "This'll take a while to heal fully."

Daray laughs, "How are you even aware at all! You should be comatose! Don't you feel everything now!?"

Pet shrugs, "Yeah, I've never had issues with pain though. I feel everything but...I'm focusing my attention on other things, which is why I'm here." She smiles at him and he studies her smile. His eyes widen slightly as he notes the small sweat beads on her forehead and then the strained look she wears. He turns away with a frown as she surveys the land still wearing a small smile.

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" Pet raises a brow at his question. She narrows her eyes for a moment at his hurt expression.

"Why are you trying to hide your pain from me? I'm your inner wolf? I can never betray you and you don't trust me enough to show how much you hurt?"

Pet frowns, "I'm not hiding my pain. If I were, I'm not hiding it from you, I'm hiding it from myself. I have to pretend it's not there until it actually does go...What, do you want me to be all, 'Oh Daray! The pain! The pain is unbearable! I need you to save me!'" Pet smiles while on her knees and shaking Daray by his shoulders. He blushes and looks away pouting while she fake cries and then bows down in mock reverence. Daray cracks a smile while still crossing his arms and avoiding her gaze. Pet stops and sits back on her legs, she quirks a brow at him while smiling warmly.

Pet turns away and enjoys the scenery before sighing. Daray turns his attention back to her, she nods once before telling him, "I am avoiding going outside though. I could wake up right now, but I want a moment of peace before I go."

Daray looks beyond as he replies, "You're welcome to stay, considering it is your head we're in." Pet laughs, but Daray can detect the effort. He continues, "It'll be hard to get back to full, but I think we can come back stronger than ever."

Pet nods, "I know we can, but the road will be long and hard. I worry..."

Daray looks at her troubled expression, "What?"

Pet covers her eyes with a hand, "For those who saw, it won't be respect they show me anymore...and I don't want to be feared."

Daray smiles, "Should've thought about that, sweetie, you know, before you decided to make that castle into a swimming pool filled with blood instead of water. Nice work, by the way. I couldn't have done better, myself."

Pet smiles, "They shouldn't have pissed me off... What even happened? That was pretty freaky, I barely had control, but I still remember enjoying it. Even now, looking back on what I did, I don't feel bad. They were like ants I was stepping on and nobody notices that or feels remorse... but, but they were people."

Daray shakes his head with a laugh, "Another perk, I'll say. You had high emotions which triggered the strength...the strength of an Alpha..."

Pet turns to him with raised brows, "An Alpha, you say? So, because of that I could break the Kairoseki?"

Daray shakes his head, "No, that wasn't what gave you the power to overcome the kairoseki. That was the moon shining down on you. The Alpha level is what lets you take control of the situation. Now that you've unlocked that energy... it'll be hard to manage..."

Pet's eyes narrow, "A perk, eh? So...I'll have to watch out for anyone that especially gets on my nerves."

Daray nods and peers at Pet, he sees beneath her calm facade and past her pain. He can tell she's worried about this animal inside. He could almost giggle, _and she thought I was the demon! Just wait till she sees how much she really wants to cut people's throats now! And that's not even me!_

Pet sighs before laying down with her face to the sky. Her arms are folded and act as cushions beneath her head. _I don't need these problems in my life._

* * *

Pet's eyes open from where she lay on a hospital bed. She blinks a few times and tries to swallow before a jolt of pain is sent through her which causes her other injuries to flare as well. She shuts her eyes while gripping the sheets as the pain showcases on her face. Any one movement leads to another which causes another, it's like a domino effect of pain. She hears the voices and can feel the concerned looks and the eyes burning into her skin.

"Oi, oi!"

"You're awake."

"Calm down!" Where does it hurt!?"

Pet's eyes burst open and she turns to stare at the dark blob that just asked that question, she grits, "Everywhere, you fucking idiot!" She sees the mass get smaller and she calms herself with small gasps of air. _I didn't realize how bad it was. _Pet counts three blobs. From the voices and distinct shapes she makes out Aokiji, Garp, and Norio, Norio being the one that receded after she snapped at him.

Pet frowns at them before trying and failing to get a look at herself. She wheezes, "I'm surprised at the turnout. I thought I'd have to howl for someone to take notice, but you guys put me in a real dilemma here."

Aokiji leans on a wall across from Pet's bed and Garp stands at her left with crossed arms. Norio is all sad in a corner towards the right. They all start at Pet's light tone, this is the first time she's ever been humorous or, at least, tried to be. This satire leads them to think she's in a lot of pain to not be calm and collected, but dare they think it, she's joking. Garp sighs visibly at her joking manner, however, he knows that this change could still be the one from before that his grandsons caused, but this reaction of hers leads him to believe that she may have turned out for the better after two years of confinement.

Norio asks meekly, "And what's your dilemma, Pet?"

Pet lets out a breath before smiling, "I don't have the time to steel myself. Now you get to see me all weak. Lucky you three kehehe."

Garp shakes Pet's core with his laugh, "You don't seem that weak to me, Pet!"

Pet rasps, "Ah, you don't know what you're talking about."

Aokiji shakes his head with a barely visible smile, "Says the woman who took down a whole army along with the king and his son while you were in even worse condition."

Pet scrunches up her face at him while squinting, "Only on a full moon. Any other day and I'd be a limp noodle."

Aokiji nods, "So you're saying it was your devil fruit power?"

Pet smiles and nods before convulsing once at the movement then painfully gritting, "Aaaahhhhh, fffuuuuccckkkk. I need to stop moving so much." She opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling. She hears a nurse come in and make the men leave and she watches them go before whispering, "Thank you." _Aw, look who's making friends._

_Is that jealousy I'm detecting?_

_Shut up._

Pet doesn't care for the nurse in explaining her condition to her. She, more or less, nods at all the right moments before the nurse leaves. Then Pet goes back to sleep. Unfortunately, this sleep was not a peaceful one.

* * *

I huff and my breath comes out in billows. The urges have taken hold of me and I can't fight them, no, scratch that, I don't want to fight them. I remember the blood flowing from my claws and the satisfying crunch of bones by my fangs. The pleasure of blood spilling from their wounds and their agonized cries of pain. I release them and watch their faces in glee as I cackle. Red liquid drips from their wounds, the blessed wounds I gave them. I could roll in their blood for days and make bloody angels in their thickness.

I howl to the moon, it guides me in my dark ways and lightens the path I should follow. The path I walk is the one riddled with heaps of bodies, with liquid life cascading down them like Bloody Falls. This is the kingdom of which I reign, me, the lone wolf. Fear and pain taint the air and it's delightfully suffocating. I am no longer a "pet" kept by the Marines. The Marines are the ones I hunt. They make up the foundation of this red kingdom. They must be the first to go and when they are gone I may take the throne from those that call themselves "dragons". Pfft, I am the true dragon in these parts. I can feel myself changing and my body morphs into the massive dragon of old. The one from my family ancestry. This is my purpose and my birth right. I will set fire to this land and barbecue those that stand in my way. That is the gift I brought with me from my mother's womb. The gift of blood and fire, I am the destroyer. I am the Queen of Hell. Where I go, hell will be unleashed upon Earthland. No one is safe. Not even...

_Wait, no!_

The images of my family blaze through my mind. I can't, I can't hurt them. I can't show them my darkness. Of all those in my life, I will not allow them to fear me. But-

I can't stop my destiny. This is it, to lay waste to the land and wreak havoc. I don't-

No! My body moves of it's own accord toward those three little angels. I can't break away! I'm going towards them! Somebody! My claws extend and my fangs protrude, the beast within me takes control. The unquenchable thirst fills my every fiber and I slice them and mangle them. This is my destiny. This is their fate, to lie with open and cloudy eyes, looks of terror forever upon their faces. I gasp and wipe my mouth while falling to my knees. I look at the back of my hand and stare at the blood coloring it, their blood. It's not merely on my hands...It's in my mouth. I turn away and vomit. I don't want this. Please...Don't make me do this.

I am not a destroyer. I am not the Queen of Hell. This beast will have no power over me. I will fight it and win with the only other option being death. I will change my destiny and I will never harm my little brothers. Their fate is to live on and I will protect all of them.

I hear the demon growling and I look up. The sky brightens with lightning and the demon speaks with thunder rolling off its tongue. "You think you can beat me? Dear Pet...I am you."

The lightning shows my own face looking back at me, but her eyes glow red and her skin is sticky and hot with the blood of the innocents. "You're not me. You're what I become when I get a bad fix. That doesn't make us the same. I'm in charge and I will fight for my position as Alpha. So kneel!" I bellow while arising to my full height, the other me shakes her head while waving her index finger side to side.

I notice my claws and fangs are gone, but when I gaze in front of me, the other me crouches with all her own bonuses intact. I stand in position to take her on, but she smiles wide and faster than I can react has me slammed on my back with cracks spreading from my body's landing. The breath is knocked from me, but I still catch her crazed eyes as I feel her claws dig into me. I cough up blood as she goes deep but I feel her eyes never leaving my pained expression. She grins and continues dragging her claws into me and digging them deeper. I wail and scream before I feel her stop, which cuts me off as I gasp for air. She leans down next to my ear and whispers, "This is what those boys of yours will feel when I rip them to shreds." She giggles after and backs up to look at my face. I feel my vision clouding as I lay dying. She smiles, "Seems like you talk a big game." She widens her mouth and I feel her fangs dig deep into my neck as she shreds my skin. My scream is a silent one.

* * *

Pet awakens to someone shaking her as she screams her ears off, "No!" She moans, "No! Please!" She is cut from her crying as she regains all her consciousness. She breathes heavily while clutching her beating heart. She buries herself in the pillows and shivers every now and again. She jumps slightly at the touch of Norio. Her misty eyes find him and she holds back a gag at his look of concern. _He cares about this monster. If I weren't a Marine he'd be one of those dead._

_Pet...you can't let this get to you..._

_You didn't see. You don't know..._

Pet notices Norio is talking to her, "...happened?"

"Nightmare, no biggie." Pet cracks a weak smile and Norio frowns at her.

"What was it about?"

Pet figures she can deal with him thinking it's about the torture even though that had nothing to do with it, "Just reliving a bit of the good times from these last two years, ya know?"

Norio nods understandingly, "You're safe now, Pet."

Pet looks away and feigns relief, "I know."

"Do you need someone to talk to about it?"

Pet shakes her head solemnly, "No, I think I'm good, Norio."

Norio nods before going back to his seat. Pet asks, "Um...Actually, since I've been gone so long. Can you get me some newspapers and help me catch up with the world?" Pet figured, _I'm not going back to sleep anyways._

Norio smiled at her and nodded, _look at him, all happy to help...What bullshit._

_Who's a jealous little wolf? That's right! You are!_ Pet mocks.

Norio leaves her and Pet rights herself with difficulty and props herself up. She looks over herself and wonders, _oi, wolf, how long have I been out since I killed all those people? _

_About two weeks. It's almost your birthday, by the way._

Pet frowns while looking down at her hands, _I see... I'm... I'm so fucking old! How did this happen!? I just lost two years of my life pretty much!_

_Yeah, you'll be turning, what, like twenty four!_

_Shut it! But wait... That means that Luffy and Ace and Sabo are all that much older too._

Pet smiled to herself, _Luffy is ten now. Ace and Sabo are around thirteen. I wonder how Sabo's doing with the Revolutionaries._

_Oh yeah, about them. They probably expect you to be their ally now, huh?_

_I'm not sure how much help I'll be though. _

_Because you suck!_

_You're so flattering sometimes. I really love that about you...bitch._

_Who're you ca-_

Pet slams the imaginary door in her head that leads to their conversation room. She's cut him off. _What's his problem?_

Her eyes find Norio when he enters with a large stack of old newspapers. Pet smiles as he hands her the first one, "Thank you." Norio seems surprised at her expression of gratitude...he didn't think she was capable.

Pet begins combing through the newspapers with the occasional "Hm" or "Oh." She finishes in no time thanks to her Uchiha blood stirring and absorbing all the information provided by the shady government. She learned how to decipher the true meaning so many years ago.

She leaned back against her pillows as she stared up at the ceiling. Norio had left her to her work long ago. The sun was just going down and Pet rubbed her face from tiredness. She opens the door in her head a smidgen before it bursts open and blows her away, figuratively.

Pet smiles to herself as Daray screams, _How dare you! Do you want to die, Pet!? I will fucking slit your throat! You don't shut me out, bitch!_

Pet can no longer contain it as she begins laughing, he's so funny. She stops while shaking her head before reprimanding him, _You were the one being a prick! I just didn't want to listen to you chastise me anymore! Now cool it, wolf!_

She can envision Daray pacing while waving his arms about in angry gestures while he frustrates over things. After a while, she feels him back down and say, _Okay, I'm cool. What'd I miss?_

_I just finished all those newspapers and, wow, a lot has happened since we've been gone._

_Oh yeah?_

_Yeah, you know that Nico Robin character? She's still causing trouble where she goes. _

_Of course you'd care about her..._

_The world needs her to guide them into the land of truth. She's the only other one that can kick this war into gear._

_So, in what way do you view her? Are you going to stop her?_

_No. The world needs to know. She's going to do what her ancestors set before her to do, as mine have._

_Your destiny, huh?_

Pet flinches at the word and buries her face in her hands while groaning, "Gya! I hate this!"

Pet composes herself before thinking on the other things. She smiles as Shanks enters her head, _I'd really love to meet him. There isn't too much on him and I can't really decipher what he's really like._

_..._

Daray doesn't comment as he sits in his little meadow and sighs. "She doesn't even know him and yet she already has all that affection for him." He shakes his head before addressing the sky, "Why is she so difficult!?"

Pet rests some more.

The next few days contain more bed rest, doctor's orders. Pet occasionally got visits from her three men. Aokiji would come in to annoy her while Norio came in with sincerest intentions of checking on her. Then Garp also ventured in to annoy her, unintentionally, as well.

Pet asked about Ace and Luffy, he doesn't know about Sabo and she doesn't plan on telling him. He told her they miss her a lot and that when she's up to full she should go visit. She smiled at that and nodded in agreement. She really wanted to see them.

She would talk to Aokiji about her time with Garp, because Aokiji holds a high respect for Garp and he wanted to know how he was to work with, she responded seriously, "He's stubborn and has a complex."

She blinked at him and he laughed before saying, "What did he do to you!?"

Pet cocked her head at him, "What do you mean?"

Aokiji sighed before remarking, "You're interacting with human beings. I thought you were a robot."

Pet leaned back with a smile, "I learned to live a little. I've always been this way, but that doesn't mean I'll joke around with you when we're on duty!" She narrowed her eyes at him while he shrugged, holding up his hands.

She shook her head at the memory, "Not that you were joking, just being a real pain in my ass. You lazy son of-"

Aokiji cut her off, "Oi, oi. Calm down. Ladies shouldn't adopt that kind of language."

Pet rolled her eyes, "I've earned my place among the men. I could probably kick your ass if I wanted to." She crossed her arms and turned her nose up with a "hmph."

Aokiji smiled lazily and challenged, "You think you can take on an Admiral?"

Pet burst out laughing and turned to face him, "Garp is a Vice Admiral, you're saying because of his rank that he can't beat you to a bloody pulp if he wanted to?"

Aokiji frowned at her before she said, "Just because I'm ranked as a Commodore doesn't mean I have the strength of one. Besides, haven't you heard the rumors?" Pet quirked a brow at him and he sighed.

"What?"

"Apparently I'm part of some secret elite squad whose ranks are ten times higher than normal. So my being a Commodore is technically Fleet Admiral in comparison."

Aokiji rubbed his face exasperatedly while Pet barked laughter, "Where do they come up with this stuff?"

Pet waved a hand dismissively, "Meh, it's supposed to raise moral in the ranks, I guess. You know all the secrets with HQ. They have a reason for everything."

Aokiji stared at her, "No, Pet, I do not know all the secrets of HQ."

Pet frowned while shrugging uncharacteristically, she turned away, "I don't know them all...I just guess..."

Aokiji continued staring at her to make her uncomfortable before a smile tugged at his lips' corners, "I know how spot on your guesses are, from experience."

Pet shook her head, "That was obvious!"

Pet growled while tugging at her hair.

* * *

It was many years ago that Pet was assigned on a mission to go with the youngest Admiral and find some hidden scientists that Vegapunk feared may become a problem. That was also the first time she met Dr. Vegapunk. He was a refined man and very smart. Even Pet found it a hassle to keep up with him.

She stood at attention when the Admiral sidled in. With a tick, she saw him admire her form. She brushed it off, however, and turned to look at him. He was very tall, Pet could look him in the eyes as she could with Doflamingo and Corazon, and he had black and super curly hair. She narrows her eyes slightly as she notices the eye cover for nap time. After Sengoku introduced them and Pet gave a nod of acknowledgement, he began to tell them what they would be doing, "You two will be heading to an island on the Grand Line and you'll be investigating claims that some scientists aren't meeting regulation and doing unlawful experiments. If you find anything, you are to report it so that we may confiscate it for Vegapunk's research and then you have permission to arrest them. Clear?"

Sengoku scowls at them both, Aokiji has his face set as he nods as Pet does. Sengoku gestures that they're dismissed after handing Pet the information on the location.

Pet turns out first and walks with a purpose, before looking over her shoulder to find Aokiji far back down the hallway and leisurely taking his time. Pet turns away with a sigh before leaning against a wall to wait for him with her arms crossed.

Aokiji passes her and she catches up to walk beside him. On this mission, they're equals, he's not the one in charge. Spying is more Pet's thing anyways. Pet asks, "So, how're we going to get there?"

Aokiji shrugs and Pet narrows her eyes at him, "Alright then. You going to let me take the lead?"

Aokiji turns to her with a smile, "Sure."

Pet guesses his implications before turning ahead and decides against walking in front. She has a Navy ship drop them off on the snowy island before walking on. She feels Aokiji's stare as she walks easily through the snow and without a shiver despite her usual appearance with her Commodore coat and formal button up sleeveless white shirt with black jeans and some regular flats. She stops to turn back to him while the wind blows her hair out of her face. Her hands are in her pockets and he remarks, "Aren't you cold?"

Pet merely responds, "No." She turns away and continues walking with the snow up to her knees. Aokiji catches up still staring at her while she surveys the land with calculating eyes. He catches the glint of yellow as she dips into her devil fruit power. She scents the air and extends her hearing but can detect nothing in the small blizzard. She knows the direction though and pushes on, her wolf's senses never lead her astray.

Aokiji voices his concern, "We should stop and wait for the storm to lighten up a bit."

Pet shakes her head, "No, this is the perfect weather for spying on people. We're almost there."

Aokiji raises a brow, "How do you know?" He caught her letting on that she's spied many times before. Aokiji only assumes that they wanted him with her because of how little information there was and because of the constantly snowing island. He figured that they figured he'd have an easy time on the island. Aokiji rolled his eyes at the thought, he really only wanted to go take a nap than be trekking through the wilderness with a robot for company. On the way there, on the ship, he tried making conversation and he hit on her too. She was neither amused nor interested. Pet caught sight that they were almost upon their target's well camouflaged base.

She smiled at the thin trees at the bottom of the little hill. They would provide her with some cover as a wolf scoping out the area. She looked to Aokiji as he came to stand next to her. He saw the buildings and turned to Pet as she went through various plans of action and discarded the trash plans. She turned to him, "I'll scout around the base and see if I can catch anything before we go in."

Aokiji nodded in agreement, he was perfectly content with Pet taking the lead with this one. It meant less work for him and he had heard some of the rumors surrounding her at HQ. He knew, at least, that this mission was going to be cake for her. Aokiji nodded once again with a "hm" when she added, "We'll go in during the night."

She turned to him before flashing a now fanged smile while he really noticed her eyes begin to gleam. Then a great wolf was before him and only because of his height did he look down at it, but even he remarked at how large it was and black. He could see the muscles rippling beneath its fur.

Pet nodded at him before shaking out her fur and taking off down the hill, Kuzan could track her every movement, she was so huge, yet nimble and stood out as any black wolf would in a snow covered land. He figured that she figured, they would ignore an animal over a person. He sighed before laying down and placing his mask over his eyes and beginning to nap.

Pet, skirted the outsides of the small development and caught scents here and there before finding herself near the entrance. She saw the guards and appeared before them with her head inclined towards them while stopped in the path. They looked to each other before frowning at her. Pet visibly scented the air before carrying on and scouting the area, after she deduced all she could from the outside, she shifted back and scaled the walls bordering the compound. She crouched atop the wall and mapped out the area in her head before taking a peak around. Nobody ever noticed she was there and she found that she should probably wait for Aokiji to do anything really disruptive.

She heads back to where she left him and finds him napping. She shifts back with a huff and considers his reaction if she were to kick him awake. Thinking better on it, she says, "Get up. We're going to have to get inside the buildings to find what we need."

Aokiji begins moving and stretching as he gets up and puts his mask back on his forehead. Pet turns back to the compound and he asks, "Why do we have to be all sneaky here?"

Pet doesn't look back at him while answering, "The Kingdom of this land has made it clear they don't want the Marines involved here. So if we were to be found out, even if we're only investigating, it would mean problems for us because their government would protect them. But, if we find actual evidence of anything against the conditions for our absence then we can step in without perjury."

Aokiji nods, "I still don't see why I have to be here."

Pet smiles at him, "Because your word carries more weight than mine."

Aokiji looks away when he sees Pet's smile. Her smile seems real, but he doesn't trust it. She doesn't think too much on it before beginning to walk down. He follows and she doesn't have to glance back to be sure.

As the sun is going down, they are within the walls and they commence opening doors and seeing where they lead. They don't find anything before one of the larger buildings turns out to have something nice. Pet smiles as she walks in and sees the large reactor. The giant contraption looks as though it might blow at any minute and annihilate them both. She laughs a little to herself as Vegapunk's description of the thing fits.

Aokiji peers inside and says, "Oh, my."

Pet turns back and says, "Would you be able to describe this to others?"

Aokiji squints at it before nodding. Pet smiles, "Good. We've got what we came here for then."

She begins to head out and shut the door when her instincts kick in and she dodges a shot of electricity. Aokiji dodged as well and, for a moment, Pet takes the time to appreciate his sudden business-like exterior.

She notices the man who pulled the trigger or whatever the thing is. Like some sort of taser. She frowns at it, _been a while since I've been electrocuted._

She sighs and Aokiji notices they've switched behaviors slightly. Pet is bored with people who can't take her, she doesn't care for people who waste their time in trying. She notes Aokiji is taking his time and not making with the unconsciousness for the man in the coat. She growls, "More will be coming, why are you standing off!? This guy shouldn't be able to hold us up."

Aokiji narrows his eyes at Pet, "What makes you so sure?"

Pet laughs boisterously as the man gains pals and they're surrounded, she smirks at Aokiji, "Told you." Aokiji doesn't even have time to get any hits in as Pet has knocked them all out already. He pats his head with one eye closed as he adopts confusion, "Wow."

Pet could strangle him. She pulls out her baby den den mushi and calls in the Navy and explains the situation. They tell her that as long as there's evidence then they can send people before they even awaken to tattle on them.

She nods as order, to restrain anyone who tries to inform the Queen that Marine Officers were spying to find the evidence, are received. She puts the snail away and goes on a hunt. She turns to Aokiji, "You just stand there and watch these guys. Make sure they don't do anything funny."

Aokiji leans against the wall of a building and mock salutes her with a smirk.

Over all, the mission turns out to be a success and Kuzan is commended for his work while Pet remains hidden in the shadows although never fully as a certain Admiral searches her out and finds her sitting in one of the windows looking out over HQ to the sea. He walks up and stops by her so he can see out the window too. Then, he's once again turned down for a date. This time she leaves him as well and tells him, "We have no reason to speak to one another anymore."

Aokiji would still follow her around sometimes and comment on things while she merely "Hm"-ed at him but otherwise didn't think to answer any questions directed at her and she didn't care to ask any questions about him.

* * *

Pet was doing just fine with her recuperating and was surprising everyone with how she healed so quickly. She would merely answer the doctors and nurses when they exclaimed at her recovery rate, "This room has a big window." They were baffled and wondered what she meant by that. She knew, of course, that every night she was getting varying degrees of moonlight depending on how it phased. It was helping heal her which was completely different from the night of the full moon. On that night, it gave her strength to fight, not to heal.

Pet smiled as she went to her training room to work with yin and yang.

She jumped for joy when Garp handed her the blades back. She grasped them and hugged them to her while a look of absolute peace came upon her face. Garp rose a brow and smiled as he said, "You really love those swords, huh?"

Pet opened her eyes and held them out to just stare at them before nodding, "Of course, someone special gave them to me."

Garp caught the hint of nostalgia, "You! You having someone special!" He was mocking her, but Pet didn't care.

She nodded, "Yes, my first friend and teacher, but also my second mother... you know what they say! First the worst, Second the best!" Pet laughed, but there was a hint of sadness to her, a sadness that her mother didn't fight for her. She'd always appreciate Agnes but a mother, to Pet, was someone who should never turn on their child.

Garp laughed along with her although he detected the sadness and found the added last part to be an attempt at deflecting her pain.

After that, Pet could begin training again and that was what she did.

She entered the room and began doing her warm ups then some exercising to build up her strength. Despite her looks of healthiness, she felt off and uncoordinated, weak. The doctors were again being astounded as to why she wasn't emaciated or dead. When she described that she only remembers eating a little over a year ago, they all pretty much stared at her with looks of disbelief as they dismissed her memory as bad. She knew normal people would be dead but she had a lot going for her and she didn't think it all came from her devil fruit or even just being an Uchiha. She figured her being **_the _**Uchiha gave her an added benefit.

She smiled at the sweat gliding down her body and basked in the air hitting it and giving her a refreshing cool feeling. Her power had prevented any more scars from making a permanent home on her skin. She rolled her neck and felt it pop in all the right ways. She was still a little slower than usual but her power was returning. Her strength and speed were gained back as she sparred with some of the other Marines, but she also dedicated time to meditation and doing exercises with Daray in her mind and learning all that accompanied her wolf powers.

She often raced with Kizaru when she could spare the time. When they first began many years ago, he was mockingly surprised that she could keep up with him so easily, but now, and after all that's happened, he noticed she's having more trouble. She adored sparring with him and made sure to tell him to go at his full speed so it'd be more of a challenge for her. Of course, he found it disconcerting and scary that she could hold her own so easily with him, because even if she didn't have her speed to guide her, she definitely had her instincts.

Kizaru was intrigued in her as well, and he took it upon himself to discuss her with Sengoku and when she would be moving up in the ranking ladder. Sengoku merely hinted that she would make a fine Admiral and he said that he recommended it to his superiors all the way. The only one who had serious issues with her being an Admiral was that blasted Akainu. He constantly insulted Pet and questioned her values as a Marine.

Usually, she dismissed him in her free time with a biting remark that "It would be a waste of my time to explain to you my reasons for being a Marine. Carry on, little dog." Of course, he'd steam up a bit and Pet would walk away. Thankfully, she never had to actually follow his orders and be under his command, otherwise it may have meant the first time she actually was filed for insubordination.

Aokiji agreed with Kizaru in Pet's being ranked as an Admiral, but they all weren't so sure if she actually had the power for it. Not that she didn't have the power for it, but that she didn't have the **_power_** for it. They wondered how well she could hold her own against one of the true top dogs of the era. Honestly, they were underestimating her because of her youth.

It was on one of Pet's training days that she was walking to her room to wash up after some training that she passed Akainu who made the snide remark, "Scum."

Usually, Pet had the patience to let it go, but lately, she'd been very easily angered. _He dares to call me scum!?_

_And he only reserves that word for pirates..._

Pet turns and calls him out, "You got a problem, little red dog?"

Akainu grows a tick as he turns to her with a scowl, "You'll address your superiors with respect, Commodore."

Pet shrugs, "I don't really believe you have the caliber of being a superior to me."

Akainu growls, "I'm the one with Admiral status. You're just a Commodore."

Pet smirks, "I don't think you deserve your rank. I don't think you earned it."

He scowls at her, "Are you questioning my authority?"

Pet shakes her head with a small laugh, "Not just that, I'm asking you to prove you deserve that authority."

He frowns, "You don't know your place."

"So teach it to me... if you can."

Pet smiles widely as her eyes challenge him. _Pet, what are you doing? Don't make decisions when you don't have all the control...wait...is it a full moon tonight?_

_I would assume so._

Pet cocks her head as Akainu comes in for a punch to her face. She easily dodges and the world is colored red once more. She goes to stick her arm through his heart, she wants to see the color of blood mixed with magma but she realizes, almost too late, _Bad Idea! Bad! Bad! Bad Pet! Down!_

She stops her attack in a split second and moves to support herself on the floor with her two hands while sticking her leg out and kicking him away. She does a sort of cartwheel and lands on her feet while he crashes into one of the Navy's buildings. She breathes heavy as her claws and fangs extend. She wants to rampage and kill them all. She grips her head and takes a knee while focusing on her breathing. _Now, now Pet. No killing your fellow Marines. That'd look bad on your career. _

Akainu stands from the rubble and sees Pet on her knee gripping her head. He notes the red orbs shining where her eyes are. She breathes deeply. He frowns as he goes in to carry on with the fight, he doesn't seem to realize that she'll kill him in this state, more like, he doesn't believe she could.

Sakazuki reprimands her, "Something wrong? Thinking better about receiving a lesson from me?" Pet slams her hands open onto the pavement. Cracks spread from them as her power is released onto something nonliving, although it doesn't satisfy her.

She stares at the ground in front of her, she's planted there with the occasional jerk in Sakazuki's direction. She really just wants to tear him to pieces and hear him beg for mercy. He's ticked her off one too many times. The dog circles the wolf like he has some power over this wild animal when he, himself, has been pampered and lived the house dog life. The animal which he circles has fended for herself and cared for her pack despite the hardships. She'll be damned if she can't fit this little dog's neck in her powerful jaws, she could drain his blood with her sharper teeth, even easier, she could snap his neck with her jowls.

Her eyes find him after he tells her, "After this, you won't be able to be a Marine anymore. You'll be demoted."

Images of Pet's family shimmer through her mind, _I can't though..._ She begins chuckling _I could kill him and they wouldn't be able to get rid of me...they need me._

Her claws bury deeper into the pavement as people gather around to watch. Runners have already been sent to inform Sengoku. Pet jerks in Akainu's direction. He's building Magma to go in for a heated punch. Pet's eyes turn back to the ground. _What do I do? I can't...but it would feel so good to be rid of him._

Her fingers curl, more cracks form from her as she releases more of her power, _I shouldn't...__ I won't_

Pet takes a deep breath as she recognizes Garp and Sengoku entering on scene just as Akainu's fist pounds on her back but, to everyone's surprise, she doesn't move from the obvious force he put into it. She stays rooted in place. The Magma from it burns her skin somewhat and the ground around her seems to shiver from her releasing more energy. She breathes out and her breath is strangely visible like steam, even though it's not a cold day. Her serious face looks up from the ground and Garp and Sengoku meet her glowing red eyes. Akainu pulls back, he's peeved that she made no reaction to his attack. Suddenly, she's in front of him and kneed him in the gut as he flies back into the previously created hole in the building from before. She stands watching his flight. Then she turns to Garp and Sengoku, "I think I may have gotten a little carried away." She appears sheepish while laughing awkwardly. Garp laughs and Sengoku seems baffled at her. After all, she practically swatted an Admiral away with minimal effort.

She dodges out of the way when Sakazuki comes in for another magma punch, he seems angry. Pet is acting on instinct, she figures that's what one would call Observation Haki since she knows where an enemy will try to strike. She never really learned Armament Haki but, surprisingly, she hasn't come up against many Logia users. When she spars with Kizaru he's always corporeal and she's never had a real fight with Aokiji. Then she never wanted to fight with Akainu because she figured if, and when, she beat his ass, he'd respond in the manner such as now.

He seems to be growing red with anger and letting off steam. Except Pet still has her eyes glowing red. She frowns and holds up her hands to the Admiral in defeat, "Calm down, inu. I'm sorry, but I got carried away. I don't really want to fight you."

He narrows his eyes and growls, "You need to learn your place."

Pet feels her anger build as she questions internally, _As if you could be the one to teach me?_

She dodges once more while Garp and Sengoku both seem content with watching how the fight plays out. She sighs but doesn't get to dodge the next blast of magma. The hit triggers something though and as she flies through the air and has the wind knocked from her, she remembers an experience so vividly.

_The blood streams from her gashes and she lay limp, hanging by her wrists. They press the white hot metal against her stomach and hold it there to wait for a reaction. After two minutes they pull away with, again, no response. Pet's body remembered, however, and when her mind reconnected she felt the scalding heat that burnt her skin and the smell that drifted to her nose. That awful smell of burning flesh, the sound of its cackling in her ears and the feeling of pain as her skin shrivels and blackens. The heat that traveled deep beneath her skin that rose her blood to boiling and gave her the all dreadful fourth degree burns. Even as the heat and burning that accompanied it for months lay dormant in her sensors, the throbbing as her body worked to restore the tissue and cells continued. _

Back to the present, Pet crashes into another Navy brick-wall and goes through several before she stops. She turns over on her side and gasps as the pain of that experience is reiterated and she finds herself wary of receiving another injury such as that. She stands from her rubble-bed and walks out to find them all waiting for her. She has sweat coating her body more than ever and her red eyes meet with Akainu's. She really doesn't want to fight him anymore, but he still wears that look of bestowing his absolute justice on her.

Then she recognizes the heat of his magma coming off him as he builds it for another attack, he's apparently deemed it useful in a fight against her because, for some reason, her body is just so hard to make a real mark on, despite all her previous scars from childhood.

The wolf in her riles as he comes in for another blow but, Pet, she doesn't want to get burned again. She presses her palm to her forehead as though a migraine were pounding there and closes her eyes for a moment before a sudden burst of anger shoots through her as she roars, "Stop this already!"

A burst of power is sent from her and when she opens her eyes, she sees the lower ranking Marines that were watching have fallen unconscious. Akainu has stopped in his tracks as if something were holding him back. Pet's hand falls to her side and she leans on the wall she previously tore through.

Garp and Sengoku have baffled expressions and Pet adopts the pose of a thinking man, and as Urkel would ask, "Did I do that?"

The three are absolutely shocked at her new development. Sengoku leaves with Garp as they fuss over what is to be done and Sengoku knows that the Gorosei will ultimately have the decision on what they should do with Pet. She definitely has some issues she needs to work through and now she has a new power to train.

Sengoku heads to make his report and Garp whines that, "She'll never have time to go see her brothers now!"

Sengoku shakes his head at his friend's antics and hastily makes his report to be sent to the Gorosei straight away.

* * *

Later that day, when Pet was all freshened up and having some alone time, she was given the order to converse with the Gorosei. She headed out promptly with her attire formal, as always. Then, she entered after her knock was acknowledged. She stood at attention while the geezers spoke about her actions and pretty much her life story. She kept a straight face and took all the verbal abuse as they seemed to be talking down to her. Then they discussed, with no sympathy, her bondage and her issues in coming back.

"We've been patient."

"Now, we have resigned ourselves to being more patient."

"We have decided to send you away so you can train to master your new-found ability and all your other abilities."

"We expect you to come back stronger than ever and even more willing to devote your strength to us and our cause."

"Because of this, when you return, we will promote you to Admiral so you may set more of an example and aide in our recruiting."

Pet nods, she always has this disconnected feeling whenever she's in this room, as if she has no control because, well, she doesn't. Pet clears her throat as her way of asking permission to speak. When she sees it's granted, she asks, "How long are you giving me?"

The men turn to one another before the taller with a thin beard answers, "Two years at most."

Pet nods once more, "Do you all have anyone in mind for me to go to?"

The dreadlocks guy steps forward, "Yes, Sengoku will give you the information."

Pet blinks and they dismiss her. She heads back to her room for a moment and when she closes the door, her face changes into an undignified pout as she whines to her wolf, _I won't get to see Luffy, Ace, or Sabo for much longer now!_

_Sorry? I'm surprised the Revolutionaries haven't tried to contact you yet._

_They wouldn't dare when I'm in Headquarters._

_I hope this guy they're sending you to isn't a total creep or psychopath..._

_Since he would be my teacher, isn't it my duty to surpass him, plus I feel it would be a learning experience to see his looks of pain, if he tries anything funny._

_I love you so much these days!_

Pet chuckles before leaving to get the information of location and name and what not before going on her excursion.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Oh finally! Hallelujah! It's done! Haha, alright another chapter finished. So tell me what ya'll think, Review, Follow, Favorite. You know the gist. Again, I thank those who have already, they really make my day. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	14. Embrace the Wolf

**Author's Note: **I know I'm a bit late. Sorry, WHY THE FRICK ARE THERE SO MANY TESTS I HAVE TO TAKE. I'M GOING TO HAVE LIKE NO FREE TIME MY SENIOR YEAR FFUUUCCCKKK. I'M SO STUPID... anyway, hope all your lives are going well, truly. So yeah.

Character's present: **Monkey D. Dragon, Sabo **yeah that's about it, more OCs. I hope I portrayed Sabo well enough, I'm not as familiar with his personality as I'd like to be... I'll have to research that.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 13

Pet allowed herself a smile as she sped across the sea. The wind whipped her brown locks back, as she rode her glider contraption. She let it down for this ride because, technically, she was off duty. Whereas usually, when she was working and expected to be business-like, she had her elegant curls up in a high ponytail. It was extremely unusual for her hair to be down. The sea behind her rippled from the projected air from her transport device's fan. She glanced behind her to admire the sea and the sun still rising. The water was beautiful and, if she chose to halt her vehicle, calm. She could see a few seagulls and other birds up high, but she turned back to the path before her. She followed the map she had previously memorized, and the direction she would be headed in.

She was somewhat excited at the prospect of a teacher and the chance to get away, even if it was for the benefit of the Marines, ultimately. In her heart, however, she felt it would also benefit her, just her. When she felt it right to turn, she leaned and moved her legs as an experienced surfer or skater would do. She heard the splashes as her turn set the back of her board to her side which caused the water to arch as well. She was a racer in her car drifting across dirt or grass, but in this case water. She sped in that direction as well.

Pet's eyes and mind constantly calculated in what way to do things and when to do them. When she was simply gliding across the water, she allowed herself to think about other things and amuse herself. She no longer wore the coat to show her rank and she felt an immense amount of relief and freedom. Instead, she wears a sleeveless crop top and jeans with her hands buried her pockets, as usual. Occasionally she'll stick the tops of her thumbs inside and have her hands hang either spread across her jeans or in fists against them. At the back of her board she has her little pack in the compartment for holding things which is located right next to the motor. She could also store food and water in there, because, when she showed Vegapunk her board a while ago, he installed a cooling system and tweaked the device a bit to make sure Pet never had to find a power source, basically perfecting what her brothers did. She had sweat dropped when he was boisterously discussing the ideas he had for the Navy's transportation system when Pet grabbed him by the shoulders, looked him in the eye, and said, "I don't think that will happen." He'd get carried away a lot and Pet found it extremely amusing to be in his presence, she was both amused and intimidated with the man's intellect. It rivaled her own, which is saying something.

He enjoyed having her around to share his intellect with, seeing as how not many people can keep up with him. Pet found him to be a nice guy, very smart, and also really bad at reading people. She likes this trait of his, however, because he couldn't analyze Pet exactly and pinpoint her personality. She would forever remain an enigma to all.

After another hour, she saw an island, the one she assumed she was searching for. She circled it once before landing on the beach and throwing her board on her back so the raised part rested on her shoulder. She took a moment and breathed deeply. She turned in the direction of an unfamiliar scent and began walking toward its owner.

She searched the trees to her left, but kept to the beach as the scent trail did. Sometimes her eyes might venture over into what lay beyond the forest, as she heard distant sounds of animals fighting. The scent seemed to trail off into the woods ahead and when she turned, a small cottage sat behind the cover of some trees. She wouldn't have been able to see it from far away, but she saw the clearing of the house in the distance and approached it with slow steps as if to appease whoever stays inside. She didn't want to burst into someone's house or life, she wanted to ease herself in. When she was nearing the doorway, she stopped to the sound of a low, throaty growl. She turned to face the massive white wolf and she was suddenly struck with, _How did this bugger sneak up on me? _

Her eyes narrow at its snarling face, despite the anger and kill intent present, she took a moment to appreciate its beautiful deep, blue eyes. They're the caverns located in the deepest recesses of the sea, she practically lost herself looking into them. She rose her hands to it, in surrender. "Ya got me. Now, calm down." Much to her surprise, it relaxes slightly and an unfamiliar voice fills her head, it's deep and throaty much like the growl she just heard, "_Good. Now, child, state your business here._"

Pet's jaw drops as the wolf circles her, she smacks her face and rubs her hands on her cheeks while watching the wolf, "Oh, wow...You're talking to me, aren't you. You're a wolf!? How can I hear you?... Ooohhhhh, no way! Telepathy!?" Pet smiles brightly, before jerking her head as she focuses, "Oh right, sorry. I'm here to train with Gael. The Navy sent me."

The wolf raises its head to her face, their eyes meet before it turns away. It stalks into the forest, and then the door to the house opens and out comes a well-built man with a broad chest and an open button-up black shirt, sleeveless. Pet can see the ripped muscles and six pack. She studies them with pleasure before noting the loose black pants the man wears to match. He's very tan and has long black wavy hair a bit above his shoulders. His eyes are black.

Pet feels the fire ignite within them, like charcoal in a fire pit, when she and him cross gazes. She smiles politely and bows in respect, "I assume you are Gael," she arises and he nods in response, "I am called Pet. A Commodore in the Navy. They have sent me because they think you can teach me and strengthen me. So I ask, will you take me on as your student?"

Gael frowns at her with a look of disgust, "No." He walks past her and the wolf follows him, he tells her over his shoulder, "You should leave."

Pet frowns and watches him go, she sighs and adopts a new method of coercion, shedding her fake exterior, "Oi! I thought you were some hotshot Marine! You telling me that you got a problem with me or the Marines?"

Gael stops after detecting the change and turns to her with his face all serious, "It's none of your business. You'd do well to respect your superiors."

Pet smiles, "I prefer when my superiors show how superior they really are."

Gael's lip pulls downward a bit at her daring, "You'll regret challenging me. How about you see if you can take on my friend here," he motions to the massive wolf who stopped a bit ahead of them and was looking at them like they were ants in comparison. He told her, "If you can hold your own against him, then I'll consider you as a student and set my feelings for the Navy aside."

Pet nods and sets her board on the ground, "Alright, I think you'd be surprised at my feelings for the Navy as well. Before we begin, I want you to know," Pet's aura changes and the air about her is tense and serious as she continues, "that I am not asking you to be my teacher as a Marine. I'm asking as someone who needs some added strength to protect my family."

Pet crouches with her eyes shifting to the wolf. It has stepped forward and gotten into a hunter's crouch as well, Pet sees the strength beneath its pelt and she can tell it will pounce on her and devour her like nothing, if she let it. The voice rings clear in her head, "_you better watch yourself, pup._"

Pet smirks as her eyes begin to glow and her claws extend as well as her fangs, "Don't count me out just yet."

Gael raises a brow at her change and the glowing eyes, he smiles barely, _so this is why you sent her to me, eh Garp? _He sees the telltale signs of the wolf characteristics. _Maybe I'll just have to take her on...but never for the Navy._

The fight commences as the wolf bursts forward to tackle its prey and wrestle her to the ground. She dodges easily, using her speed to her advantage before grabbing onto its fur and landing firmly planted atop it. It tries to arch and throw her off, but she doesn't let it and merely holds on for dear life. Then it rolls, with her now beneath it. She still holds on before shifting into her wolf form. Gael smirks when he sees the black wolf emerge from beneath his white. It doesn't chomp down on the neck for a kill bite but, with the added grip, it throws its opponent slamming against trees and tearing them down as it goes.

Pet rolls onto all fours and growls at it to stay down. She's mildly surprised when it comes rushing back to her through the trees and, in this form, she's not quick enough to stop it from returning her favor by digging its claws into her back. Instead she runs against a tree and brushes it off before facing it. They butt into each other with fore-paws outstretched and claws extended as they ram into one another head on. Each has a grip on the other as their muzzles snap against each other. The sound created, reverberates through the forest and birds fly up from the trees around them.

They stand on their hind-legs, propped against one another as they bat at each other. The white wolf drags its claws down Pet's wolf face and leaves blood in its wake and down her chin. She gets it back a few times, but can't seem to draw blood while this beast is marring her. They break away for a respite and circle each other growling. The white pelt has red streaks, but those are from Pet's wounds spraying.

In her most powerful form...Pet is having a hard time. Something inside her snaps once more and she stops before lowering her head. She raises it when the wolf is about to unleash the force of its weight against her. She's under it and pushes up so it turns to land on its back with her on top.

It lands with a thud and Pet has her claws dug deep in the soft fur of its belly, her jaws around its neck. She hasn't bit down...yet. Gael frowns as she looks to him with her red eyes glowing, she's asking his permission to kill seemingly.

Gael shakes his head and says, "That's enough. I kind of need him, if you want to learn something new." The man frowns when Pet doesn't release him, he sees the jumbled and cloudy thoughts behind her eyes. He takes a step forward with palms out facing her, "Now, now Pet. Calm down." He doesn't have to wait a moment, before his wolf has her pinned to the floor with its paw upon her neck. Her eyes shift back to yellow and she blinks, the wolf releases her. "_I let you win, brat. Don't push your luck._" Pet sits up while holding her head, she's now back to her human form.

She mutters a "Sorry." Gael studies her as she gets up with slight difficulty due to the slash marks bleeding down her body. She looks at him with her brown eyes and he nods once to himself before turning to leave with the wolf following him. Pet assumes she should follow and does so.

Pet walks with a purpose, despite the pain from her wounds, and she mutters, "No, no I'm fine. Don't mind me. I'll just be back here." She knows the wolf heard her and later hears Gael chuckle. _Those bastards._

Finally they come to a massive clearing with a fire pit in the middle. She walks over before sitting with a grunt. She lays on her back.

A few hours later, she squints at the fire going and the starry sky, _I didn't even realize I fell asleep. _She notices the bandages and wonders if her surprise is justified. With one hand on her stomach she sits up and leans against her bent knees. Beyond the fire, the wolf sits on its haunches staring at her while Gael appears to be making supper, not realizing she's awake. She blinks at them a few times wondering if she should say something, but figures the wolf covered it after Gael says, "Finally woke up, eh?"

Pet narrows her eyes with a pout, "Are you accusing me of something? Sorry my bleeding inconvenienced you so... you're fault anyways..." She grumbles the last part while still pressing her bandages as if she were keeping her slashes together and preventing them from opening again. She takes a deep breath after she hears the man chuckle dryly.

Her eyes meet with the wolf and she addresses him, "What's your name?"

The wolf stares at her and gives no indication of communication before, "_Brock,_" resounds in her head. She smiles and shows acknowledgement.

Gael hands her a bowl of some type of broth, she waits for him to eat out of politeness and respect. Her action doesn't go unnoticed. As soon as Gael takes a bite, Pet begins eating quietly. After the meal is finished, Gael turns to her, "Why should I make you my student?"

Pet squints at him, before shrugging, "That's your decision, buddy, not mine. If I had to say, though, I'd say because it'd give you something to do and it's going to a worthy cause."

"_You don't get to decide your worth._"

Pet glares daggers at the know-it-all wolf, "I'm not talking about me, geezer. I'm talking about my family." When she says it, something changes in Pet and she turns back to Gael, determinedly. She muses, "My family is the cause. I don't work for the Navy, I work for them. I'm only with the Navy to help keep them safe."

Gael frowns and sets his bowl down while studying Pet's eyes, he sees the pain and resolve in them, "How is helping the Navy keeping them safe. You'd be better off being with them."

Pet turns away with a sigh, "Not if the Navy are the ones I'm keeping them safe from..." She turns back to him as she senses he's about to question further, one look sent his way silences him, "I can't go into detail about it. I'd have to kill you after."

Gael smirks, "What makes you think you can?"

Pet shrugs as she mutters, "Experience."

Brock watches them, listening, but keeping his voice out of it. Pet notices him turn to Gael and sees Gael pass him a glance, as if they're communicating. She figures they're discussing whether or not they should take her on or not, but she isn't worried. She's not here for the Navy, she's here for her family. Pet clears her throat to get their attention, "So, what do you say?"

Gael faces her after a lasting glance with Brock, "Alright, I'll help you." Pet smiles at him, but it turns to a frown after, "On one condition..." She gestures for him to continue, "Tell me how you got your scars."

Pet quirks a brow at the inquiry and looks down at her bandaged body. Her jeans have some tears and she sees the bandages through them and her stomach is covered as well with her crop top a little tattered at the edges. Only one more wound site is on her left arm. She looks at the scar on her right shoulder and imagines where the others would be located. She sighs visibly, "I got most of them when I was really young...kids were afraid of me, so were their parents. They threw rocks and those made the smaller ones..." She traces across her clothing where they all are. She knows them by heart. Then she takes a deep breath and continues, "The larger slash marks I got when I was around five and I, uh, slipped off a cliff and fell into the sea during a bad storm. The waves were powerful and they beat me against the cliff walls, of the cove, you know. And," she breathes in before releasing, "the rocks cut me." Again she traces where the larger ones are then points to her back.

Gael presses out of concern, "Sounds like there's more to that story."

Pet rubs her face with one hand before pinching the bridge of her nose, "Yeah, there's a lot more to that story. My family disowned me and kicked me out when I was three. I lived in the woods and fended for myself until that time. They didn't protect me from the neighborhood boys, I had two older brothers and they didn't do anything. My parents ignored me. My mother let my father-" Pet begins breathing heavily and covering her face with her hands, she buries her head against her thighs. Her voice quavers almost imperceptibly, as she utters, "I dragged myself out from those waves after hours of banging against the wall... and I did it with a devil fruit."

Gael frowns, even Brock has narrowed his eyes at her. The two share a look. Brock tells him, "_Lot of baggage with this one._"

"_I like the challenge._"

"_You know what must be done first?_"

Gael nods at him before turning to Pet. Her arms are now over her head. He moves over and lays one warm hand against her shoulder, she doesn't flinch. He witnesses the tension surrounding her calm, however. Pet looks up and Gael smiles at her dry face, "_She's strong though._"

They all go to rest deciding to begin in the morning.

* * *

Firstly, Brock has Pet face him once more. He tells her, "_I want you to stay human for this fight. Try your hardest, pup._" Pet frowns and wonders why they're doing this again, she took off her bandages since her wounds were mostly closed now. They begin and Brock doesn't give her any time to prepare. He's behind her in a blur and she twirls to the side from his hit, with her blood flying through the air. She's shocked as the wolf is behind her once more and dragging it's claws down her back. The process continues and he doesn't give Pet a breather. He just tears into her with deep cuts in specified places on her body. She dodges sometimes and punches his muzzle away before he pretty much slaps her with his claws extended and leaves a long, thin claw mark down her cheek vertical to her jawline. Pet breathes heavily wondering why the wolf is trying to kill her.

He stops and she stands slightly bent from exhaustion. He seems pleased with himself, Pet questions why, and gets her answer upon looking down at where he cut her. He re-cut her old scars except for one on her shoulder. He tells her, "_To move forward, you have to let go of the past. I let you have one as a reminder that it happened, but the others were holding you back._"

Pet could cry, but she remains stoic as she sits on her bum. Gael comes to tend to her and she seems disconnected as if she lost a part of herself. They let her heal and when she is finished, she merely has one right shoulder scar and the one on her jawline. She actually had to concentrate for that one to scar over, she didn't want to forget the experience and, to be honest, she likes having scars... They make her feel cool, like she has a deep history and she's not afraid to show it.

The real training begins when they start with endurance and Pet has to hold onto her wolf. Gael walks around her while she sits cross legged in a meditative state. He tells her, "From what you've told me, your Devil Fruit brings out a part of a yourself. Why do you two have to be separate? Why not join and be stronger than ever? I'm not talking about teaming up, I'm talking about becoming one, only instead of this Daray being dormant, make him an active part. By loosening your control, Pet, you're actually gaining more. Trust Daray, he is the wolf, he's your wolf." Gael continues walking while Pet inhales and exhales calmly. Inside her head, Pet and Daray are running a two legged race together, pretty much. They're having a blast. After they win that shit, they begin miming each other and snickering while Gael rambles on outside Pet.

Deep within, however, Pet and Daray are growing closer than ever with the time to play together. Not as someone who needs help, they aren't helping each other, they're interacting as equals. As friends, maybe even as family. Pet asks Daray, "So who's the evil twin?"

Daray smirks, "You obviously. When you go psycho killer, that's all you! Not me!"

Pet shrugs sheepishly. They grab each other's hands and they get serious. Pet asks, "Daray, I never want you to fade, but can we make our bond stronger?"

Daray hugs her, she's tense, but she relaxes with her arms under his and clasped behind his back. Her head against his chest, as she hears his heart beat and the warmth from him emanates. He assures her, "Our bond is growing every day. My power is your power-"

"And my power is your power."

Daray nods, "Let's keep at it. I'm here for you and you're here for me. Let's get stronger together."

Pet nods and breathes deeply. A change has just occurred within her. Daray is no longer a wolf waiting to be unleashed, he's part of her. They complete each other, they both play an active role as Pet, the woman made up of two separate beings.

When Pet opens her eyes to the outside world, her eye's have changed to a yellow. She has left behind her brown eye color. Gael smiles at the change and claps, "Good job. Now you can hold that energy while we fight."

Pet nods at him and stands, her movements are more graceful and precise. Gael admires her greatly. They spar lightly as Pet gets used to synchronizing with Daray. After Gael is happy with her fluid movements, the agility of a wolf, he begins helping her with her Haki training. He starts with Observation Haki and finds her already superb in that area. She has little difficulty avoiding hits and Gael thinks that, not only is she using her Haki, but also just the wolf senses in general. Wolves tend to have great instincts for fighting.

After he finds her Observation Haki up to par, he trains her Armament Haki, since she has barely any experience in that department. Pet first meditated on it as Gael told her exactly what to do and where to concentrate her energy. On her first try, Pet coats her arms and legs in Haki. He tells her to hold it while opening her eyes, they spar once more and Pet is to keep her armor during it all until Gael is satisfied. She tires out quicker, but she does as she's told. He's very pleased with her progress. One hit to trees and they're a splintered heap. Gael was slightly impressed on the outside, but on the inside was a different story, _Holy shit!_

Pet trains to perfection with her Armament Haki and then Gael asks, "Do we need to work on Conqueror's Haki?" Pet never told him if she had it, but he assumed she did.

Pet scratches her head with a confused look, "I guess? I think I unlocked that power at some point?" She puts her raised arm to her side, on the way down she notices her longer nails. With her wolf powers in sync with her now, she has longer nails for claws and her fangs show as well. None of these characteristics leave her while her eyes retain their yellow.

Gael frowns at her, but nods, then he goes on a long lecture on the basics of Conqueror's and how to use it and what one can do it with it. Pet nodded while she soaked all the information in. After Gael finished, he had Pet focus her will and make it corporeal, then unleash it on a desired target. They practiced on the massive animals of the island. Pet would basically go on a nature walk and have animals attack, but one look from her and they stopped, tucked tail, and ran away. Brock got his buddies to surround her and attack all at once. Pet merely inhaled and sent off a shockwave of will power their way. They stopped and the weaker of the pack fell to her power. She smiled, pleased with herself, before Gael told her to focus on opponents so as not to affect everyone, like civilians in the future.

Pet frowned, "Can I just hit everyone? To be honest, the population gets in my way too, and they'd never know I knocked them out. It's perfect!" Gael smacks his forehead as he knows she's only joking, but it was a fail to him. Pet accomplishes direct attacks later on in her training.

All the while, Gael has been having her do "basic" exercises in running laps around the massive island non stop in both her human form and her new wolf forms. He gave her a week to experiment and she morphed into a thin werewolf-like creature that runs faster than ever, a massive ginormous werewolf hulk creature, a smaller version of her regular wolf form, and fuck's sake, a fucking wolf pup.

She almost played a prank on Brock, but he could tell it was her, because of her smell and white streak down her shoulder as she stared up at him with her puppy eyes blinking cutely. She had her hind legs up straightened, with her front as if she were laying down, a play stance. He averted his eyes, but she could see the curl of a wolf grin. She rolled over with her tummy exposed and her paws waving in the air. He put his paw on her and rolled her on her stomach as he asked, "_Pet... Why would it be useful to have this form?_"

Pet tells him simply, "_I can make even the gruffest people simmer with all this cuteness. Get a load of me, I'm adorable!_" She sits up and yawns with a cute noise accompanying it. Brock's fur was standing up and he walked away, smartly. Pet smiled inwardly as he left. Then she went off to find Gael and see how he reacted.

Gael had more trouble keeping composure and he just laughed his ass off, after a time. While wiping away a tear, "Oh, Pet, that's too great! Although, I doubt you'd be able to use that in combat."

Pet grows to her full size wolf and barks while going back into play stance, "_It'd be good for stealth though, and inconspicuous. I can always change into this form or some other if it's necessary._"

"Unless someone puts a kairoseki collar on you."

Pet stands to her full wolf height with her broad chest puffed out, "_I've had that problem before and I broke the kairoseki. Nothing can hold me down, muahahaha._" Pet throws her head back as if she were actually laughing, but it's all in her head. Gael's eyes widened at her statement of breaking Kairoseki, he wondered to himself, _how is that possible?_

Pet already learned how to communicate through telepathy, Brock was the teacher in that area since it's the wolf's way of communicating, when Pet asked why, Brock answered, "_Because we're too dignified to lower ourselves to a dog's level. We may bark if we must emphasize a point, but our communication is the stealthy and silent kind. So we can stalk and kill without a sound, together. Although when separate we howl. We howl to commemorate our loss and celebrate our victory._" Pet mouthed an "Ah" and nodded her head.

Back to the present, Pet changed back and left to a quieter area to perfect her transformations and timed herself on how fast she could transform. After a few days, it was almost instantaneous.

* * *

In the months that followed, Brock took Pet with him to the pack of the island to learn their ways in the wild and be one of them. She was his apprentice and walked into the den slightly behind him. The den was enormous and spacious enough for a pack of wolves to fit inside. The clearing was empty as they walked inside and Brock introduced her, formally. The wolves lowered their heads with narrowed eyes, before turning away. Pet fell in with the pack after a few tense moments and found a mother of three caring for her pups. Pet smiled inwardly at the displays of affection and she sniffed each pup before chatting idly with the mother. She mourned the mother's loss in her mate, but the pack provides for its own.

The Chief came to greet her beside the nurturing mother, "_My name is Ulric._" Pet dipped her head respectfully.

The mother interjected, "_Oh dear me, my name is Aylen._" Pet turned to her with a grin and looked at the younglings at their paws, Aylen told her, "_These are my boys and girl, the girl is Jaci, the brown boy is Kitchi, the golden brown is Paytah._"

Pet memorizes their names and feels the loving energy within the pack, it's therapeutic. She feels comfortable with these "animals," they're barely animals, if anything, people are the animals. Pet sits among them and talks. She spends a lot of time with them and learns from them, sees how they react to varying situations. She even gets to train with some of them, males and females alike. They're all fierce warriors. Pet is able to perfect some of her maneuvers in her wolf form in bouts of tussling with the others, a more brutal form of play-fighting.

On a particular day, Pet is out on a hunt with her pack, when one of them is injured. The wolves come to gather round as the large male falls to his side. He must've twisted his bad foreleg, Enapay groans slightly where he lay. The voices of the other wolves fill Pet's head as they discuss what to do. Pet merely frowns at the fallen gray wolf, he has no fur where his scar is. It travels down his side right over the start of his leg and all the way down to beneath where the tendons of his leg connect to his body. He apparently was in a fight with a tiger on the island, when food was scarce, and hunting in those days was cut throat.

Pet, after holding her wolf form for so long, follows her instincts and pushes aside the others with her broad black chest and places a paw lightly on Enapay's shoulder. The wolves surrounding, previously were growling at her for barging into their space, but were silenced after they saw her yellow eyes change color. They'd seen her only with yellow, and red when in a fight, but this time, they changed to a true blue. Pet, of course, isn't aware of the change in color, except for the color change in scenery but Enapay pricks his ears forward as the pain leaves him and he stretches his leg without any trouble.

Pet retracts her paw, when Enapay's pain left him, she felt the throbbing in her own leg. Unbeknownst to the others, the veins along her front leg, the one touching Enapay, enlarged and the traveling of something would be seen, if not for Pet's coat of fur. She steps back and Enapay gets up and they stare each other in the eyes, everyone is silent. Enapay gruffly thanks her and she dips her head. The other wolves crowd around now and bombard her with questions as they discover, "_You're a healer!_"

She shrugs with her wolf body and they decide to head back and mess around with this new-found ability of Pet's. They rush back while some stay out to finish hunting for the pack and bring in their share. Pet frowns inside herself when her brethren begin play-fighting, to a level where they can get minor injuries, she never enjoyed watching, but she didn't mind stepping in. Pet felt at home with the pack, she slept with the pack, ate with the pack, and lived for the pack. She wouldn't have it any other way, she adored the unity in hunting for prey and the take downs, how well organized it all was, despite the silence.

When the wolves obtain injuries, they go to Pet and she unlocks her power again. They find out with cuts, the wounds actually transfer to Pet, but her healing capabilities help her heal quicker than an average wolf or person.

After two months living with the pack, Pet had gained their respect and their trust. She was a leader in the hierarchy, right beside Chief Ulric and she also gained the respect, surprisingly, of the other animals on the island. When out alone and training, they would sometimes attack her and she would respond accordingly. She'd spare them, however, with her red eyes blazing into their heart and soul. With her red eyes, they'd submit to her, the power of the Alpha engraved into their beings. They must respect and listen to the Alpha.

* * *

Pet was sitting, looking out into the forest, away from the clearing when she heard the summoning. She shook herself after standing then trotted ahead. Farther into the forest, she broke into a sprint at full speed and jumped somewhat diagonally off trees, getting higher and higher. Then with a powerful take off she shot up towards the sky, she began to lose altitude, but seemingly pushed off once more as if walking on air, "_Geppo._"

She flies through the air at a high speed once more, before she let herself fall to the ground and take off running down the rest of the way. She slowed as she neared the familiar house. A breeze carried a few familiar scents her way. She stopped in her tracks and turned to one bright smile and two lip smiles. In an instant, she has enveloped the youngest of the three with a massive hug in her human form. He hugs her back while laughing, "Hiya Pet! It's been a while!"

She pulls away and cradles his face in her rough hands and stares at him, takes in every inch of his face before smiling at him. She memorizes his longer blonde hair, his sparkling blue eyes like a serene lake, the top hat and his familiar ruffles and a long black jacket. She notes the longer pipe, almost a staff and narrowed her eyes at the new scar on his left eye. Then to finish off her inspection, she pats his shoulders as if making sure he's real and corporeal, not some ghost she's dreaming. She notices his own hands and studies their own roughness. She sighs before standing to her full height. and faces the two men beside him. A dip of the head is sent to Dragon and he smirks slightly, "A deal is a deal, " Pet tells him.

Sabo smiles widely at her, he's catching up in the height department, the little sixteen year old menace. Dragon merely states, "We're not holding you to that."

Daiki shakes his head, "We do have some plans for sending in a highly trusted Revolutionary into the upper levels of the Marine Intel, and we'll go over those with you later to see if you would like to help and be able to. But you've earlier stated that you have a reason for being a Marine and we don't want to jeopardize that reason."

Dragon adds, "We bet it's a valiant one."

Pet smiles at the two and they notice the sharpened canines, they already noticed the ever-present yellow eyes. Pet looks down slightly at her younger brother, "Sabo-kun, I'm happy to see you again."

Sabo continues smiling at her, "Did you think I was dead?"

Pet grabs his ear and pulls it, with a stern look, "Don't smile at me while asking a deep question! Of course, I knew you were alive! What do you take me for?!"

Sabo mouths an "Ow, ow" at Pet's pulling his ear. She releases it after a time, and Sabo rubs it, indignantly, "Sorry... How did you know? I thought you were in hiding the whole time?"

Pet crosses her arms with a quirked brow, "I was, but I was in the crowd when the Celestial Douche-bags were coming in. I saw your boat and you on the boat. Then I saw Dragon-san get you."

Sabo and the others synchronize their looks of shock with varying degrees. Sabo says, "Wow cool! All the way from the shore! Wait... Do Ace and Luffy know?"

Pet frowns deeply, "No, I was caught before I could tell them."

Sabo copies Pet's frown with dejection, "I guess I should tell them sometime. I don't know when though, it's already been so long and I don't want to leave the Revolutionaries. I'm getting stronger everyday and doing good."

Pet smiles lightly and pats his shoulder, "It's your choice. Don't worry about it. I'll keep quiet... if I ever see them again... Do what you want to do Sabo-kun, you have the freedom to."

Sabo smiles and nods at her, he remarks, "You seem stronger Pet and well... muscle-y? And different?"

Pet smirks, "Which brings me to my next question. I been training here, in solitude, how'd you guys know I was here?"

Daiki nods behind Pet.

She turns and smiles at Gael, "So you're with the Revolutionaries, huh. Tck tck, I hope the Marines don't suspect anything, although I doubt they do, since they sent me here."

Gael smiles, "You told me about your little brother with them and how you are actually familiar with Dragon-san so I made a call to check your story. No harm in that."

Pet feigns hurt, "Ow, you didn't trust my word, Gael, that stings." He shakes his head at her.

Sabo cuts in, "Why do you need to train, anyways?" Pet scowls at him and he continues, "Except for the whole being held hostage for like two years..."

Pet laughs, "That's actually a funny story, see-"

Daiki pokes her with a mischievous smirk, "You owe us a thank you for that one!"

Pet has her hand in his face and continues addressing Sabo, totally dissing Daiki, "As I was saying, I actually broke myself out as the Marines got there and came to stop me because I was on a rampage haha!"

More looks of shock, Dragon asks, "What about the kairoseki?"

Pet snorts at him, "Ha Kairoseki is nothing to me. I discovered a new power. So I came here to learn to utilize it effectively... without killing everyone in sight." Pet nods solemnly, as Sabo shrugs and begins smiling again. He accepts it. Then Dragon does. Daiki is the only one still in complete amazement and disgruntled slightly, _How strong is this woman!?_

Sabo puffs out his chest as he states, "I bet I can keep up with you now!" He doesn't really believe that, and even Pet sees the conspicuous chink in his armor. She pokes his stomach so he exhales unexpectedly.

Pet moves away a distance, before stopping and turning to face him. She, at least, gets in stance for him, as if she's expecting more of a resistance. Sabo comes at her with dragon claws, Pet smiles as she dodges his movements to grab her, quite easily. She allows him to grab her arm and he clamps down as if about to break it. It has no effect, however, he can't seem to make even a small dent. Pet places her other hand over his and tells him, "Sorry, Sabo-kun. You still have a long way to go before you can catch up to me."

Sabo smiles as they break and relax. Dragon steps in and moves to find a nice place to sit. Pet sees him leaving and moves to follow, with Daiki in tow. Sabo follows later and walks in to find them all sitting on the beach. He sits, as Dragon explains to Pet, "... he knows the risks and we're sure he can accomplish this with ease. Unfortunately, we need someone to really push him for candidacy, just to be sure he gets accepted. We believe that if you are in a place of influence you can give him that added voice."

Pet has her hands in her laps folded together, she nods occasionally with the relay of information. "I think that will be quite simple. You want some information on Vegapunk and what the Marine's will be doing in the other countries. I don't think Shichibukai really get all that information, only on the important stuff like large scale wars where the whole Navy would be involved, otherwise, he'd have to focus on Vegapunk and gain power through him. Be a guinea pig." Pet frowns, "There's a low probability that he'll die from the treatments, but he may lose himself and you'd lose an ally."

Dragon nods as if he already understood this information, "He knows the risks."

Pet smiles, "Then sure, when I get back I'll probably be acquiring a higher ranking. A place where I could influence decisions."

The two men smile and Pet turns to Sabo and grabs his hand to hold. He doesn't object. Pet motions for him to follow her, so they can talk privately and catch up. They go back into the forest and sit up against trees across from each other and Pet breaks the ice, "So... Got a special girl?"

Sabo suddenly blushes maddeningly, "N-no. I-I have t-teammates t-t-though."

Pet smirks at him, "Tell me about them."

Sabo sheds his uncharacteristic blushing and details his teammates personalities and looks with such perfection and fervor, Pet can't help but smile that D smile. _Koala and Hack, huh._

After he finishes, Pet continues eyeing him lovingly. He laughs at her persona, "Pet! You're making me uncomfortable!"

Pet grows a tick at her own behavior, but takes it out on Sabo, "How is my love making you uncomfortable! You insulting my love!? Huh!? Chibi!?"

Sabo smacks his forehead with a sweat drop, "Oh, oh okay, calm down."

Pet growls and controls herself. "I missed you, baka. I miss the other two too."

Sabo nods with a saddened expression, "Yeah, but we'll see them again. We'll reunite some day and have some fun together."

Pet nods her head in agreement and anticipation for the day.

The two adopted siblings go on to chat before being broken up by Daiki, who tells Sabo that they're leaving. Pet frowned and stood up to walk with her arm across Sabo's shoulders. She faced him and bent to his level and they embraced. Pet didn't tear up! She just had something in her eye! She waved goodbye as they took off to their ship, then went back to the house to discuss her training with Gael. He told her that, "All you're doing now is perfecting what you already know."

Pet sat with her legs out in front of her with one knee bent with her arm atop it, pushed in to her body. She narrows her eyes when Gael sighs as he continues, "There is one more thing I can do for you, though... I ask that you think carefully on the decision because... there's no guarantee that you'll come out of the ordeal stronger."

Pet laughs nervously, "Cut the crap, that's the deal with anything. Let me in on what you're thinking."

Gael sighs again, "There is an herb that heightens a wolf's awareness at a price. It would allow your instincts to expand, theoretically. You'd be aware of a greater variety of things going on, I don't know the range difference. Pet, the price of it is pain, unlike anything you've ever experienced."

Pet smirks, "That's what they always tell me... How does this herb work exactly."

Gael responds solemnly, "It'll essentially kick start parts of your brain that are dormant. I don't know all the effects, but I've seen one extremely bad case and one okay case. It's a risk, but if it comes out alright then I think you'll have another strength in your itinerary. Not that you need anymore..."

Pet hits her fist to her palm in mock "a ha!" then she frowns and narrows her eyes at her teacher, "You're basically going to get me extremely high, huh. Only it'll be permanent?"

Gael tilts his head side to side, "Uh, sure, you could think of it that way, but you won't be happy, per say, you'll just have a greater awareness. It'll boost your Observation Haki."

Pet nods, "And the price is pain. Alright, I bet the risk is that I die from pain or excessive bleeding due to ruptures or hemorrhaging in my brain." Pet claps her hands with a set look, "All right, let's do this."

Gael goes to get the herb ready. He sits on his knees as Pet comes over to sit cross legged. She's already skeptical as he hands her the joint, "You have got to be shitting me!"

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Yep, there you have it. Alright I'll post another later this week hopefully. The Follows, Favorites, and Reviews are all extremely appreciated and welcomed. Have a nice day! Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	15. Wolf-Puppy Love

**Author's Note: **I was supposed to get this out sooner as a way of appeasing those who asked me to update soon, but I got sick. And my head is pounding and there's not enough tissues in the world apparently. So very sorry. I'll kick this sickness' butt though.

Character's present: **Sengoku, Aokiji, Vegapunk, Akainu.**

**SURPRISE APPEARANCE!**

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 14

Pet held the joint and stared at its burning end. She sighed, "And you said, I'm not getting high?..." A nod from Gael confirms her question, she continues with a pout, "Are you joking? This looks like weed to me."

Gael crosses his arms, "Just take a puff already."

Pet inhales the herb and throws her head back to puff rings of smoke, for her personal amusement. _Ha, I've still got mad skills, brah._ Contrary to popular belief, in the Navy and growing up, Pet actually would be considered a bit of a rebel to normal standards. She's smoked cigarettes and weed before, done drugs. She gets bored and so she tries new things, not like she has the risks that other people have.

It takes a moment for it to kick in. Pet's eyes widen and Gael takes the joint from her as she seems paralyzed, for a moment, before as if in a seizure, her muscles all contract. She throws her head back with a gasp and extends her long legs pushing herself along the floor. Her eyes are shut and pain is on her features.

She turns on her side, where she lay, and groans. She curls in on herself shaking and covering her face. To her, it feels like her brain is on fire, with needles pricking every space, and someone is pounding it with a bat... simultaneously. This then causes her receptors and memories, everything goes haywire. A tremor will be sent through her brain, before she calls, and she'll moan in pain, occasionally. After a few hours, the first blow wears off and it follows up with a greater surge of pain. She screams and holds her head as images flood her mind. Blood begins gushing from her ears and down her nose, and she cries, involuntarily, tears of thick blood.

* * *

This reminds me of old times. I remember when I was young, and I used to confiscate the drugs my underlings would sometimes bring. Of course, I had to try them for informative purposes. I'd just sit there shooting up or smoking out the window for kicks. I suck in a breath of the burning herb and let it mix inside for a bit, before I test whether I can still puff smoke rings. I still got it.

I wait a bit and nothing happens. I know it takes a moment for the effects to start showing themselves. I wonder how bad it's going to be-

I spoke too soon. I freeze as alarm bells begin sounding throughout my head, those annoying fire alarms that pierce my ear drums. I already feel them throbbing, and someone is either stabbing my brain repeatedly or poking it with a very sharp stick. I feel my defenses kicking in, the body's natural response to lessen the pain. My muscles clench and still clenched I extend my legs, throwing myself on my back. For the moment, all I know is pain and I respond as any human being would do, I curl up and shiver. Millenniums pass and I can't get a grip of reality. The true world isn't all pain and suffering, but I know no other world like this.

Man, I've never had such a bad trip like this before. Suddenly, I am pulled forcefully into myself. I grab at nothingness and scream as the darkness enfolds me. It's as though I'm thrown in a chair and take off on a rickety old roller coaster ride without a seat-belt. I grip the bar in front of me, as I am bombarded this way and that with images that I can't seem to get a hold of.

I'm on the floor looking up at a smirking man with his gun pointed right between my eyes, a shot rings out. Then, I'm running down through the town and pushing past people with a bag of money in my hands. I get into an alleyway before people surround me and begin stabbing me. I fall. Next, I'm standing and watching a casket be lowered into the ground, my father has died and the grief tears my heart open. I know I'm going to end it all when I get home, I can't live with my mother. Another experience is when I'm standing there wiping my chin after a blow from my older brother. I have my eyes narrowed at him, his scraggly raven hair and freckles. He's taller than me and muscular, but I'm determined to catch up to him. Finally, I'm thrown through another wormhole into someone's life. I will go down fighting for my cause. I will lead my ship into the abyss. The only pain I feel is that I won't get to say goodbye to her, I hope she doesn't fret when she gets word.

I can't breathe as I come back to myself. Too many people all at once. Why is there so much pain in the world? I just stepped into so many people's shoes and it was awful. I can't think. I wasn't Pet or even Serina when I was there, I was them. I knew their names as if they were my own. I- I saw Ace... I was Luffy for a moment... Then... Real watery tears slide down my cheeks. I sob into my hands. He's going to die and I can't do anything.

The pounding is still in my head and it jumbles my thoughts. I try to open my eyes, but they burn the minute the light touches them. All I can do is rest, and wait for my strength to return.

That was such a trip... and I don't feel stronger.

* * *

Pet opens her eyes to Gael's concerned and he passes a hand over them as she stares at him with a stoic face. He sees the pain behind her mask. When she speaks, her voice is raspy, "Gael... I don't think your plan worked out."

Gael frowns, "I'm not sure it did either. How's the pain?"

Pet smiles, despite her tiredness, "It's less. I don't think it's going anywhere. I need to go though."

Gael asks, "Why? I'm sure if you rest enough the effects will calm down. Your brain had to open connection and make space for it, it's probably just sore, like a muscle."

Pet blinks at him, "Teachers always say the brain is a muscle... but, technically, it's not, no matter how much you want it to be. I have to go, because my friend is dead and I want to go to his funeral."

Gael tilts his head at her, "How do you know that?"

Pet responds, "I saw it... I felt it... It was like I was feeling everyone's pain in the world at once... I can't explain."

Gael smiles lightly, "So you did gain the power... but it seems it takes a lot for you to utilize it. I'm sure it'll calm down now."

Pet shakes her head, "I have a massive migraine, that time was different. If I were cut then I'd feel the cut, or shot then I'd feel the bullet. The migraine is the cause of unlocking this power, there's a reason it's hidden and dormant. I might not have the capability to handle it... I know... I'm a doctor, remember?"

Gael places his hand on her forehead, with a look of sorrow, "I'm so sorry Pet. I didn't give you a strength. I gave you a weakness."

Pet shakes her head and attempts a bright smile, "No, now I'm kind of psychic. I'll be able to spy on people across the world, I think? It was really weird and Vegapunk will probably help me out with the meds." Pet sits up slightly woozy and lets Gael help her to her feet. She sways slightly, but walks on, portraying nothing. He frowns and admires her strength. She hugs him, when they're outside and she's all packed. She brushes her lips against his cheek, before hugging Brock as well. He lay next to her the whole time she was down. She kisses his wolf cheek as well. She stands back to look at them and bows, "Thank you for all that you have done."

Pet turns and grabs her board to leave. She doesn't attempt anything overly exerting, so as not to excite her throbbing head. Brock watches her go stronger than ever, and yet not. Gael turns when she's out of sight, "What have I done?"

"_She knew the risks. She'll get past this. She's strong._"

Gael shakes his head while covering half his face with a hand, "I knew the risks and this is on me."

Brock turns his head, "_No, it's not and you know it. She'll be fine, it'll just take time. You know most people would've died._"

Gael goes back inside and Brock watches him go. Once Gael's inside, Brock goes to the beach and sees Pet already far into the distance. She's a speck on the horizon. He howls his goodbye. He hears his voice accompanied by others within the forest.

They finish and a clear and resounding howl travels across the sea. He feels pleased at her progress. She's no ordinary wolf, she's the spiritual wolf. She has the power to bring to fruition all that accompanies the wolf's image. She can summon the dense fog that they stare at people through, she can heal her pack-mates, she can even make others submit with her aura. Now she has the power to feel their pain, without touching, and she'll be damned if she can't do something about it, too. Brock recedes into the forest.

* * *

There was a bustle at the port when Pet arrived. She, oddly, made quite the entrance, because she really didn't give a fuck. She tipped her board up so it shot out of the water and she grabbed it midair to land sturdily on her feet. People took notice and left to report her return after a little under two years. She wore black, black skinnys and a black button up vneck shirt that opened at the top, a bit, to compliment her bust. She also wore her black bandana tied around her neck. She looked upon the others crowding her, her hard expression made them fear her, but that changed when she offered a polite smile and said, "Excuse me." She walked through the crowd and they watched her go, all the confidence of a wolf in her manner.

She passed many people on her way up to her room, and once she got there, she saw that there was already a summoner present. Pet smiled and gave her a nod before ducking in and dropping her heavy load on her untouched bed. She chuckles a bit, _they always expect me to come back._

She sighs once, pops her shoulders, then heads out. Sengoku summoned her.

She walks into his office with her thumbs in her pockets. She smiles when she sees him, "Hi Sengoku, been a while, huh."

Sengoku frowns at her, before continuing with his business, "Have you finished your training?"

Pet detects the hidden question, "Yes. I did not just drop everything once I heard."

"But how did you hear?"

Pet shrugs, "Oh, I have my connections." Her yellow eyes glow for a moment.

Sengoku frowns at her, "The funeral isn't until tomorrow. Then we'll be making ready for your Admiral naming ceremony."

Pet nods solemnly, "Aren't you going to make me prove myself?"

He laughs, "No, you were strong before Pet, I'm confident in assuming you're up to par."

Pet smiles at his ignorance, "Very well. Am I dismissed?"

Sengoku waves his hand, so she turns out and leaves. She walks back to her room, on the way there, Kuzan passes by and they stop to catch up for a moment.

"How was your trip?"

"Fine, the usual."

"You're going to the funeral, right?"

"Yes... actually I want to get the story later, but I'm tired, I'm going to go rest for a bit. Mind if we meet up later?"

Aokiji frowns, _Pet never makes plans, I always have to seek her out. _"Yeah, when? I'll probably go find a nice place to nap on one of the roofs. When you're up I'll probably-"

Pet silences him with a wave of her hand, "No need, I'll find you pretty easy." Aokiji watches Pet go, his frown still in place, _what's up with her?_

Pet gets back to her room and shuts the door, leaning on it while heaving a big sigh. Her head bonked against it. She covers her eyes with her hand and she allows herself to show her pain. She turns away from the door with her back to it and slides down and buries her head in her hands. She can almost feel it pounding through her hot forehead.

She stumbles to her bed and lays in a heap. She awakens and the throbbing is dulled, but ongoing. She rolls on her back and gets up. Her face buries in her hands, _I think I'm going to visit Vegapunk before Kuzan._

She stands, _you should do that._ Pet composes herself once more, before she goes out, en route she passes his medical bay filled with sick Marines. She gets glimpses of their pain and feelings, she halts by the door, with her eyes to the floor.

Her eyes go to meet the double doors, deciding some of their pain she can help, she ventures inside. One scent and one feeling draw her close. A badly burned man, Pet has her hands on the rail at the foot of his bed, while she stares at him in his wound-induced slumber. It's as if his scent is carrying the memories of the burning and who did it. She frowns and walks over, the man may seem as if he's sleeping, but only Pet can tell that he feels every inch of his seared flesh. She goes to his side and places her hand over his, he stirs at the touch, but is kept from coming out of it. She knows that if he did, he'd probably lose his mind to the pain. Her eyes change color, they morph into blue and she notices her veins on her arm enlarge as she empathizes with him on a spiritual level. She takes away his pain, his pain is nothing to her. With a straight face, she merely fixes the issues inside him, if she developed a burn wound, people would talk.

She leaves and looks over her shoulder once, when he rasps, "water." A nurse rushes to his side and Pet slips out the door. She shouldered his pain so he could awaken without it, and yet, she feels as though she's being punished. The previously dulled migraine has come back with a newly sharpened knife and it's looking for a fight. She blinks more than usual, but isn't dissuaded from her task. She enters Vegapunk's vast lower level and walks in on the guy laughing like some sort of mad scientist.

He is mad, but in a comical and inquisitive kind of way. Pet goes up behind him and peers over his shoulder, she has inches on him. He's flipping out over some schematics with this project the top brass assigned him. Pet nods when looking at them, _Interesting._ They could pose a major threat to lower level pirates, but she doubts a robot could do a person's job in dealing with the major contenders of the world. Vegapunk looks behind him and jumps when he sees her. He eyes her up and down, "What's wrong?!"

Pet smiles, "Oh, I just had some bad luck."

He frowns and Pet stills when he grabs her face, not forcefully, but checks her heart rate and then her forehead, "You have a fever and are experiencing some pain. Why is that, Pet-chan?"

She moves to sit down on a stray patient's bed, "I smoked some really bad plant."

Vegapunk blinks at her, "...What?... You're smoking again?"

Pet huffs, "No, it was some wacky treatment that was supposed to give me superpowers."

His face is serious, as he digests the information, but he still seems disbelieving, "... wait, let me get this straight. You took a hit from someone who said the joint would give you superpowers?..."

Pet nods, while realizing how bad that sounds, she snorts slightly while trying to contain her laughter. It sounds really bad, the way he's seeing it.

Vegapunk nods and scratches his head, "...um... Pet, I thought you were smarter..."

Pet would normally get angry at his statement, instead she finds his behavior adorable. He's such a nice guy and awkward, it's very endearing. He has a very proportionate body with sandy hair and light blue eyes. His hair is styled so it's a bit spiked and short, he has a nice build that's neither too big nor too small. If one were to meet him in real life, he'd actually blend pretty well. Pet admires the intelligence behind his eyes, the only distinction that he's someone important.

Pet goes on to assure him, "I had valid reasons to believe it, and they were confirmed. I did get heightened senses, but it hurts. I need to know if it will go away, and until then I could use some meds."

The Doctor nods, before smiling at her, "Very well, I believe you. Now, tell me all about your trip while I examine you, then tell me what plant was used."

Pet rolls her eyes at her friend, he gets his clipboard and begins her physical, she tells him about Gael and Brock and the others and what her training entailed. She stops after noticing he has, and is currently watching her with a small lip smile, leaning against his desk, with crossed arms.

She cocks her head at him and he answers, "So, you had a good time."

Pet shrugs and he shakes his head, "That's a bad habit, love." The "love" bit doesn't faze Pet, that's just the person Vegapunk is, he's a warm human being and wishes to help people, but he's kind of enslaved, like her, because of his intelligence. She almost wonders if he has a bit of Uchiha in him. When Pet felt like the enemy of all Marine's, Vegapunk isn't technically one, he's a civilian employed by the World Government, she found a friend in him. He was pretty happy to have her as a friend as well, he's so smart that most people are intimidated by him or using him.

Pet smiles, "So, anything out of the ordinary?"

Oddly enough, "Your body is showing the signs of the pain, but everything seems a-okay to me."

Pet nods and chuckles, "If that's your opinion then it's probably true."

Vegapunk smirks deviously at her comment, he's smart and he knows it, "I'll be able to find out more if you tell me what plant it was."

Pet looks at the floor, "Wolfsbane."

Vegapunk has slapped his face and he commences staring at Pet with the utter disbelief on his face, "Isn't that like poisonous, if memory serves."

Pet smiles, "It affects me differently because I'm kind of a werewolf. It enhances my wolf-ness, so it opened some doors..."

Vegapunk nods while squinting at Pet, "The way the mythology goes, though Pet, it's also not good for werewolves."

Pet shrugs, "A risk I was willing to take, don't judge me punk, I did it in the name of science."

He shrugs and averts his gaze, "Oh, then that's fine." He sighs before getting to work with his chemicals. Pet aligns herself on the patient table and lays down to catch some Z's. She awakens groggily to find Vegapunk at his desk writing and doing equations, she looks at her side to discover a bottle of pills. He tells her, without looking up, "You'll have to get refills every now and then, and we'll do some tests later, but those should help you for now."

She smirks at him, before grabbing the bottle and popping one into her mouth. Almost instantaneously, her headache is gone. She relaxes, "Thanks." She slides off the table and walks out. Vegapunk keeps his eyes on his work as she leaves. Using her Observation Haki, she seeks Aokiji. It's dark already. She hops from building top to building top and lands beside him. He's up and looking out to the sea. Pet seats herself beside him, leaning her elbows on her knees as he is.

"It was a pirate. He couldn't outmaneuver their ships and had no choice but to engage in battle, and the pirates showed him no mercy."

Pet nods, "He wasn't afraid, he was strong." She looks at Aokiji and he nods, not meeting her eyes.

* * *

One would think that Pet would be slightly depressed after the loss of her friend, but the knowledge that he wasn't afraid made her have respect, more so than sadness. He did what he set out to do, he knew it was the end and like he always does, he went with it as positively as he could. Such was the thought Pet had when she looked upon the memorial picture of the familiar smiling face and dark brown hair, almost black, his deep blue eyes, the crinkles at his eyes and mouth corners from smiling so much.

_Norio..._

She moves to take a seat by Aokiji, at the front. She's in modest black attire. The funeral isn't overly long, people pay their respects, Pet holds her tongue and doesn't go up to speak about her friend. _He was there for me, ever since I first came here. What am I to do?_

_As a person, remember him. As a wolf, honor him._

Pet nods at the advice, people get up to leave, but she remains looking at the simple casket. When she's alone, she salutes and eases up on herself, she says, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I know I never seemed to appreciate you or even like you, but, truth be told, I did, Norio. You were a light in my life and I recognize, now, that I have to be my own light now. I'll pick up where you left off, I'll be a friend to people like you showed me and I thank... And I thank you for being my friend when I probably didn't deserve one." Pet nods solemnly, before she turns away and never looks back.

In the following week, Pet had to get ready for this whole Admiral naming Ceremony. She donned her katana, after making sure they were in pristine condition, then added her blue jeans and white button up formal sleeveless shirt. She turned in her Commodore coat, apparently it was truly something special for someone to move up so many ranks at once. No one said anything about it though, because they knew it was a long time coming, and Pet was always Admiral material. She walked out of her room, on the day, her shoulder scar and face scar seemingly catching the light of the sun. Her eyes bright yellow to match its brilliance, she was ready. One would have thought someone was getting a medal, but it was just Pet. Pet actually had lost count of all the medals she earned, she tended to throw them in her closet. There's just a pile of them beneath her hanging clothes.

Admirals are big deals in the Navy and revered throughout the ranks. It'd been a while since a female had taken the power, and usually there were only three, but the Gorosei made an exception to her.

She received her Admiral coat and had to take an oath, before saluting with the other Admirals onlooking. Only one seemed especially pissed, the other two were serious, but didn't show any true negative feelings for their new partner. Afterwards, Pet lowered her hand and unfolded the coat and draped it over her shoulders, her katana sticking out from underneath it. She turned to Akainu with a smirk, "We're equals now."

He growls, "Don't get cocky, brat."

Pet shrugs and leaves, while telling him, "You really should check your anger. It's not healthy... Could get you killed someday, ya know?" She left with that.

Pet received orders to head to the New World, apparently the Gorosei wanted to expand the Navy's presence there and they would begin by stationing her on patrol in that area. Pet was just fine with that, there aren't many Marines in the New World, only the roughest and craziest of them fare in the New World. She liked the idea of a challenge. She'd be heading to a sea where the Yonko reside and rule. The four had established their power not too many years before. Whitebeard had always held a position of strength since he could contend with the Pirate King himself.

To be honest, Pet was shaking in her boots... from excitement. Even sitting with Aokiji eating, he told her, "Slow down, eating faster won't make the time go by."

Pet drops her fork and throws her head back with a pout, "I wanna go though! Why do I have to wait for a fucking ship!? Can't I just go alone!?"

Aokiji stares at her, "Most people would kill to have a place of power in the Navy, let alone have their very own ship and crew to command."

Pet waves her hand with a look of disgust, "Been there, done that. At least I won't have to stay on the ship, we're going by the Calm Belt."

Aokiji leans on his open palm, propped on the table. Their table's a bit bigger than the others, to account for all the Admirals' freakish height and size. Pet fit in. He watches her and can practically see steam rolling off her, from her excitement. "It's like every time I see you, you've changed."

Pet puffs out her chest with a proud smile, "I'm aging..." her smile turns upside down and she runs her hands through her hair with a look of dread, "Oh, fuck me... I'm aging..." She pouts and suddenly eyes Aokiji, squinting at him, so he squints back.

"What?"

"I don't want to grow old like you. Geezer..." She sticks out her tongue and pulls down her eyelid.

Because Pet never really teases like this, Aokiji is at a loss for words, he almost can't tell if she's really playing, until she pushes his shoulder and orders him to, "Loosen up. I'm just playing, jeez."

Pet cracks her neck and gets up abruptly, "I'm going to check if I can leave yet, you want me to find you to say goodbye?"

Aokiji cracks a smile, "Nah, I'm probably going to go nap."

Pet shakes her head at him and pats his shoulder as she leaves.

She heads down to the bay and finds it not ready. She practically tears out her hair while she heads to find Vegapunk. Of course, he's laughing and about to pull a lever, the door closes behind Pet. She smiles as he turns to her with a bright grin, "Pet-chan! Come see!"

She shakes her head, still smiling, "I really need to stop walking in on you when you're like this."

He eyes the magical lever, "Like what?" She sees his hand twitching towards it.

She concedes, "Alright show me, you know you want to."

Like lightning, the lever is down and Pet feels the shift of energy. She walks over to him and follows his gaze. She sees a robot boot up and is about to take a step forward, it explodes, however, and Pet covers Vegapunk. He coughs slightly and sits up abruptly from where they were blasted away. She pulls him up and he begins pulling his hair, "Gr, I thought I had it this time!"

Pet frowns and eyes the debris, "Show me the blueprints, maybe I can help?"

Vegapunk leads her to the files and she looks through them and occasionally "Hm"-s. After she finishes, she sets them down and looks at him, before averting her eyes slightly and leaning on her fists. She turns back to him across the table and he studies her look. He asks and gestures for her to give her opinion, "Well?"

Pet meets his eyes, completely serious, "You know how to make this better. I don't want to tell you something you already know."

"You really don't see any other way either?"

"No."

Vegapunk sighs and falls back in his chair, so he rolls away a bit, "What am I going to do?"

"What you have to, to get it done. You know that it's impossible to program a robot like a human..."

"And it's very possible to fix a human like a robot. That's the first step, anyway, until we can get enough information to develop the fighting machines."

Pet nods while staring at her friend, he seems older in the lighting of his laboratory. It's always been a bit dim in there, until he powers something up and lights are flashing everywhere. Pet's fairly certain he does it for dramatic effect, but he always runs away whenever she mentions it. He snaps from his brooding and throws two pill bottles at Pet, she catches them in between her fingers on one hand. He informs her, "Those should last you a while, but we're going to have to come up with a way to send your medicine so you can take them. Oh!" He turns to his high tech computer.

"What is it?"

He types things into the keyboard and pulls up Pet's MRI's(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) that he took while she was asleep. She looks over her shoulder and frowns at the results, he looks at her reaction. "Honestly Pet, you should be fine. Whatever's causing the pain, I'm not so sure it's quantifiable."

Pet straightens up, while inhaling deeply, "I see." Pet turns away and sits on the nearby desk. He continues analyzing her expression, but he's never been good with understanding people, he's socially awkward. Pet's been teaching him, even though she's pretty much in the same boat, although she gets to interact with others more than he does.

"'What are you thinking?"

"My power is technically based in spirit... Maybe it's like that... Or, maybe the physical effects are done and it's all in my head."

Vegapunk shakes his head, "I don't think it's just in your head, Pet. If what you say is true, then maybe what you need isn't to conquer this issue as a physical detriment, but a mental one. Is something wrong? Is it Norio? I heard down the grapevine and I know you spent a lot of time with him. Something is upsetting the balance and you need to set it right for the pain to go away forever."

Pet has her head in her hands before she looks up at him, quizzically, "I don't think anything's wrong. It's not Norio." She gets up and stretches, "Thanks, though, I'll work it out somehow."

Vegapunk smiles, admiring her, then gets up and hugs her. She meets his embrace with a smile and he tells her, "Have fun in the New World. Call me when you get a chance." They pull away and Pet nods at him.

Pet points at him, as if threatening, "Don't blow yourself up." Vegapunk mock salutes her as she leaves.

She carries her glider and stuff to her battleship. Apparently, she gets a Captain of her very own. She smiles at the gal, who remains saluting her, Pet walks around her for a moment, sizing her up. "At ease."

The young woman relaxes and Pet nods at her, pleased with her inspection, "How old are you?"

"Nineteen, Ma' am."

Pet frowns at the word, "I'm not old! Just call me Pet. Nineteen is pretty young." The woman smiles at her praise, Pet leans on her ship's rail, still docked. She crosses her arms. _Lolita, that's a nice name._

_How much you wanna bet there's something wrong with her?_

Lolita is a taller woman, not as tall as Pet, with orange hair, she has it in a ponytail beneath her cap. Pet sees she's not as built, but she figures she's speedy, also Pet can't help but grin at the sword she has at the belt. _She seems fine to me._ Pet tells her, "Make ready to set sail, I want to get there soon, Lolita."

The younger salutes and adds, "Please Pet-san, most people just call me Lita."

Pet nods and waves her off. They set sail and Pet walks about learning about her crew. She sees the tell tale signs of timidity at their daunting task, they don't want to go to the New World, where all the monsters are. But they don't realize Pet is the embodiment of what monsters fear. Oh yes, if it calls for it, Pet will kill...with kindness... or whatever's necessary.

* * *

They reach the New World in no time and are promptly attacked by pirates. Pet finds ease in dealing with them, but she hangs back, in the beginning, she wants to see how her men handle themselves. She admires Lita's form and her other underlings, they're doing just fine, after all, there is a reason they were chosen to accompany Pet into the New World. The Navy wants to be sure that the Yonko and other pirates know they're willing to take the fight to them if they have to.

The Captain of the pirate crew goes for Pet, she dodges in her seat, one look from her and he crumples to the floor beside her, she goes back to watching and occasionally sending out bursts of Haki to those about to cut down her charges. She smiles when the battle is done. Lita looks up at her from the deck below, she has a brow raised. She uses geppo to land beside Pet and watch the others arrest the pirates. Lita asks, "You just watched?"

Pet detects the accusation, she turns to her Captain, "Yes, yes I did." Pet meets Lita's eyes and she backs down, she knows she can't question an Admiral. Pet turns back to the pirate ship, she orders, "Confiscate the valuables and burn the ship to the ground, they won't be sailing again." She stands and leaves to her quarters, after her underlings respond, "Aye!"

The days pass by with much action and Lita is finally granted a scene in which Pet takes control. Pet's blade, yang, blocks another's from an underling's back, she sensed that this one had a strong will. Pet smiles at the pirates' Captain, a petite woman with a sword. Pet pushes the woman back and swipes her blade down, a cut goes across the woman's torso and she falls. Pet sheathes her sword and pats the Marine's shoulder whom she just saved, "I got your back."

The middle aged man grins at her and the other pirates surrender. Lita came up beside Pet, as the pirates were stowed in the cells of the ship, "Nice job there, Admiral."

Pet turns to her while shrugging, "I didn't get here because of my good looks."

Lita frowns at her and shakes her head, "I heard you were more serious and powerful. What happened?"

Pet smiles at the younger woman, "I had a great teacher and friend. I also got to spend some time with my family." Pet thinks of Sabo and Gael, but also the wolves that she got to connect with, she was part of a pack and accepted, she was family and they cared for her like their own. Even with her boys, she didn't really have the time to bond as much as she did with the pack. "They calmed me down."

Lita shakes her head, "I wanted to learn from the cool Demon Wolf that everyone always talks about, not some trained pet."

Pet has shifted into her wolf form and pins Lita to the ground with her sharp claws pressed against the young Marine's throat, "_Did you just refer to me as a domesticated animal? I assure you, I'm more than capable of murdering everyone in the vicinity, but people tend to lose their minds a bit when I have my fun, do you understand? Keep testing me, brat, you'll see how I earned that title._" Pet steps off and shifts back to her human form, Lita stares at the sky wide eyed and breathing heavily, she holds her throat and Pet pities her, "I didn't want people under me in the first place. I'm more than enough to clean the New World, but they think I'll be calmer if I'm around people. They don't want another _**incident**_ to happen. I hope you learn to appreciate what you've been given, and understand that nobody challenges me and walks away. You'd do well to learn some respect." Pet turns to the Marines watching, they stare at Lita's terrified face, on the floor, Pet assures them, "The same applies to the rest of you."

She walks away and Lita gets up to watch her go, she has some life choices she needs to rethink.

Later that night, Pet sits at her deck in her room chatting with Vegapunk on the den den mushi, he laughs, "I can't believe you did that!?"

Pet's sheepish, "She kept challenging me! I put her in her place! She deserved it!"

The snail gets serious, "Pet, no child deserves that. She's young! You know what you were like when you were young!"

Pet smirks, "But I had the strength to back up my words. If she's going to challenge me, she better be ready."

"Tck, tck, some thing's never change."

_Damn Alpha women._

Vegapunk frowns, "Pet! I'm so lonely without you here. Well, except for all my assistants, but they're boring! Would you believe a few of them only have two PhD's and the rest only have one!"

Pet shakes her head, "I know, huh. It's blasphemous. Except that I don't have even one."

"Well you're the exception, doll face."

"I am?"

"Yes indeed. You're smart and you can prove it, without those silly pieces of parchment."

"And yet, you have like seven."

"You keep up with me pretty well though, not like these imbeciles! Only majoring in one area of school, slackers."

Pet sighs, "Doc, you are something else."

Pet gets a call on her other den den mushi, she's using her personal mini. She tells her friend, "Ah, I gotta go. I'll talk to you when I can."

"You better!"

**-gacha-**

Pet picks up the other mushi, "Pet, we have a situation. There's a threat to Lluvia Island and we want you to head there to meet it. One pirate by the name of Gray is about to make land. He has a bad rep for killing civilians and we think this would be a good time to establish a relationship with the people of the island for a possible base."

Pet nods, "Roger that. I'll deal with him and set up the negotiations."

"Good."

**-gacha-**

Pet leaves her room to tell her navigator to make way to the island. They get there in no time, with Pet's advanced Navigator's skills. Pet could kiss her! She hops off the ship with her men crowding the ship's railing behind her, she smiles at them, "Go have some fun, but be on the lookout for this man," she holds up the wanted poster of Gray, "stick together and contact me if you see him on the island. He shouldn't get here until later."

"Aye!"

Pet walks off, she sensed something wrong with Lita when they got to the island, but she decided Lita would tell her her problem sooner or later. Pet heads to a bar, she's eyed suspiciously when she enters, she leans on the bar table and asks, "Do you have a place I can hang my coat?"

The bartender, cleaning a glass, tilts his head to a door marked employees only. Pet smiles and winks at him, before heading inside and putting up her coat. She comes back out and takes a seat, then orders up their shittiest drink. The bartender grins at her, "You sure you can handle it, little lady."

Pet scoffs, "I'm as tall as you! I am so not little!"

He laughs at her, as he does some experienced mixing. He slides the drink down to her and she takes it in one gulp, slamming the glass down afterwards and looking him in the eye. "What's your name?"

"People call me Pet. Your's?"

"Ren." Pet smiles at the name and nods in acknowledgement. Ren is a broad shouldered man with bulky muscles and charcoal hair, his eyes are hazel. Pet spends hours in the bar just chatting away and taking shots, after the twelfth Ren finally demands, "Aren't you drunk?!"

Pet resembles a deer in the headlights, "No?"

Ren smiles, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you drink like a pirate."

Pet blushes, "R-really? You think so?" She holds her cheeks, _that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me._

_Wow._

Pet feels the presence of an advancing assailant, he grabs her arm in a death grip, she doesn't mind though. "Can I help you, sir?"

"What's a fine thing, like yourself, doing in a place like this?"

Pet smiles politely at the older man, he's wrinkling slightly and wearing out his strength. _Should I feel bad about harming the elderly?_

_Nah, just slice his throat to show mercy._

Pet agrees, but thinks better to warn him, "Sir, I think-"

"Is there is a problem here?"

Pet rolls her eyes, _Oh, nice, a knight and shining armor. Let's get a look at this chump. _She peers over her shoulder and her eyes widen, _Oh My God._

_Here we go._

Pet turns away, as the newcomer asks her, "Miss, is this man bothering you?"

Pet finds her voice in her throat, Ren squints at her expression. Her disturber lets go of her arm and goes to deal with the younger, something about, "I'm going to teach you to mind your own business."

The cocky older man's on the floor unconscious within seconds, and Pet is covering her mouth, for if it were open she'd be repeating, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... Oh my god..."

The man touches her shoulder, concerned, "Oi, are you alright!? Is this shock!?"

Pet turns to him, after willing herself not to flinch at his touch, she feels fire beneath it. Pet smiles, "I-I'm f-f-fine." She stutters, blushing uncontrollably. _Damn you! Female Body!_

The man smiles and laughs, "Dahaha I'm glad."

Pet nods and hears his crew mates call out, "Wow, Captain, did you really need to do that?" "Seemed like overkill." "Sshhh, he was just showing off for the pretty lady."

Pet turns away, covering her face in her hands as her condition reddens, their Captain barks at them to "Shut up!"

Ren raises a brow at Pet's slipping calm facade. _The hell is wrong with her, _he questions. He begins serving the rowdy bunch of pirates. The man leans in next to her and asks, "Can I get your name?"

Pet turns to him, "Only if I get your's first."

He smiles wide and says, "Shanks."

"Pet." They shake hands while Pet fights off the heat cooking her cheeks. Pet stares at him, for a moment, while he talks with his men seated behind them, she admires his red hair, his scar over his eye, his stubble. She notices the missing arm with a frown and turns away before he can see her memorizing him. He asks, "Care to have a drink with me?"

Pet nods enthusiastically and they clink drinks before downing them. Pet's heart is pounding in her chest and threatening to break out. Explosions go off when Shanks brushes against her, so they can talk without the nosy members behind them hearing. Pet could faint, she questions what she's feeling. _What is wrong with me!?_

_I call this Wolf-Puppy Love._

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Ta da! Finished. I really wanted Vegapunk to be a nice guy and Shanks was the surprise! Alrighty, have a nice day. Review, Favorite, Follow. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	16. Compass points North

**Author's Note: **Wowza! All those reviews really made my week, I feel like Chopper when he gets a compliment, haha. Now I feel like you're all going to hate me after this chapter, but good things will come, all in good time.

**BTW**: Last chapter I totally fucked up with Shanks' laugh, that's what I get for not reading through his character profile before writing about him. Let me know if he's too OOC, but it also could be that I think of him behaving a certain way different from yours, interpretations and all that nonsense.

The Chapter isn't as long as it seems, just a lot of dialogue going on.

**Shanks, Benn Beckman, Lucky Roo, Yasopp**

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 15

Pet tries desperately to compose herself, but soon enough, her D smile breaks out and she laughs at all the right moments. Shanks smiles wide beside her and they talk about unimportant things, tending to go off topic. It went a little something like this:

"What's your favorite color?"

"Red."

"Oh! My hair is red!"

"I saw that!"

"What a coincidence!?"

"It's like fate!"

_Oh, just kill me now._

Pet giggles with a slight blush and takes another drink. She stares at the hard liquor, for a moment, _maybe it's how many drinks I've had._

_... probably not..._

Pet turns back to Shanks and sneakily asks, "How'd you lose your arm?" She frowned at it when she first saw it, a flashback of Luffy's tale affronted her.

Shanks turns to her, she detects nostalgia as he begins, "I met this kid..." he rubs the stub in memory and continues, "and decided he was worth it, a hope for the future..." Pet gets that feeling from Luffy too, he'll be a great man when he's older. Then he shifts to boasting, "There was this giant Sea King with sharp teeth that got it! And I sent it away with one look! How cool am I!?"

Pet chuckles, "Very cool!"

His crew interjects again, "Captain, stop boasting! Your flirting is too much!"

Pet smiles and puts her hand over his, he looks at her, "I'm sure the boy's family appreciates what you did for him, nonetheless."

Shanks smiles too and holds her hand, "Maybe."

Pet's heart just became a master in kung fu as she pulls her hand away and turns forward. Shanks watches her with a light lip smile. Pet catches Ren's raised brow, she shifts her eyes in the direction of Shanks before waving a hand, effectively communicating, "How could I pass this opportunity up?"

She spends hours chatting with Shanks and getting to know his crew, while getting drunk, even though she doesn't seem like she is. There's a natural hue to her cheeks, due to the alcohol running through her system, and the presence of a certain red head. She's laying on her curled arms on top of the table while looking up at Shanks boisterously laughing and talking. _Why do I have to be a Marine?_

_Because you think it's your responsibility to protect people who turned on you when you were a child._

_Oh, right._

Pet's heart stops and her breath catches when a familiar voice bursts through her drunkenness. One of her Marines just erupted from the bar's doors calling, "Is the Admiral in here?"

She could cry, and Shanks' jaw drops as he searches wildly around, "Eehhhh?! There's an Admiral on this island!? What are we going to do!?" His crew mates are shaking their heads at his reaction. "Don't worry Captain."

Pet sighs from where she lay, and nobody notices her disappear quite suddenly. She's inside the Employees Only Room glaring at her Admiral coat. With a small tear, she dons it over her shoulders and takes a deep breath, straightening up as she emerges outside. "Here," she says.

She avoids the looks of the pirates and the Marine seems thankful, "Admiral Pet! We've been trying to reach you. Gray is within sight of the island and he's packing!"

Pet nods at him and orders, "Alright, I'll deal with him. Go with the others I'll be right there, I've got to pay my tab." He salutes her, and runs out to tell his mates that he found her. Pet goes over and pulls out a wad of cash... Admirals get a lot of money for their service. Pet places it on the table and smiles at Ren, "This should cover it." Ren nods at her and she turns to leave, but a hand, grabbing her arm, stops her.

Shanks is serious as he asks, "Oi, you were an Admiral?"

Pet's glare is sent his way and she feels her heart break as she threatens, "Take your hand off me, pirate."

Shanks frowns at her, but releases, and she walks out with the most sullen look ever to be worn in the history of mankind and all other kinds. Silence surrounds the crew as she does the walk of shame. She gets outside of the bar, onto the cobblestone path, and slaps her cheeks a bit, before shaking her head and striding to deal with a problem. Pet gets to the bay where her ship is docked and Lita comes running up to her, "Finally we found you! Where were you!? We've been worrying no one could reach you, or something had happened. Why didn't you respond to our calls?"

Pet grins, "I couldn't hear them. What's the situation?"

Lita reports, "Gray's ship is coming up in the distance and they're almost here. Just a few more minutes and they'll make land. They've also got a great cannon on the front of their ship and have it pointed at ours."

Pet frowns, "Have they fired?" A blast from the enemy ship answers her question, a giant cannonball comes flying at them. Pet sighs, "Just another day in the office."

She's up in the air as it's on its downward trek, one kick sends it flying away and landing in the ocean next to the enemy ship. It rocks from the force and Pet yells/growls, "Don't be throwing Cannonballs at my ship! It's brand new!"

Pet lands on the deck of her battleship and accusingly asks, "Why aren't we returning fire again?" Lita sweat drops and kicks everyone into high gear. _These people are nothing without someone to guide them._ Pet jumps onto the roof of a tall building as another cannonball is shot towards the town, one hand she grabs it and directs it back at Gray's ship, it's sliced in half, however, before it can connect.

Pet frowns as she draws her sword, yin, and blocks Gray's own. He's above her from jumping off his ship with a powerful leap, just to meet her in battle. He has a gray Mohawk and a black tunic with trousers. He looks kind of refined, except for the whole Mohawk thing he's rocking. Pet meets his gaze with a serious expression, he's smiling widely at her. She admires his fangs, _Did he do those himself, or are they naturally that way._

_Look at him, he totally faked them._

Pet can't deny that, Gray asks, "Haven't you heard little Marine? I'm worth 7,000,000 beli."

Pet raises a brow and condescends, "Oh yes, I'm shaking, I'm so scared." She fends him off with ease and they both land across from each other on the street below.

Her Marines face his pirates in battle, Pet weighs the pros and cons of knocking all his pirates out in one blow, but before she can, Gray sends a slice her way and she dodges.

"Did you just mock me, bitch?"

"I really hate that word. I mean, I know it can be used for a female wolf, but it seems more dog-like to me," she dodges another swipe, "Ya know?"

Gray goes in to stab her and she smiles, before letting out a laugh, "You really have no idea who you're dealing with?" He raises a brow at her.

"What, you some important hag in the Navy?"

"Kids really need to wash their mouths when they speak. Respect your elders, boy. I'm a fucking Admiral and a damn powerful one too."

"Haha, yeah right, girls can't be Admirals. And Admirals don't boast. That's not cool."

Pet's brow twitches in annoyance, "At least I speak the truth. And did you just say that because of my gender I can't be an Admiral?"

Gray smirks and nods, Pet, has had enough, lands a direct punch to his face, his bones shatter beneath her fist. He blows away and flies through a few buildings made of hard rock. Pet wipes her chin with a serious expression, watching his flight path. She stumbles and smiles sheepishly when Lita, above her other underling's scolding, shouts, "Don't destroy the town! Control yourself!"

Pet whines, "But he started it!"

Lita shakes her head at her Admiral and delves back into the fray of pirates. They're many, but the Marines are winning. Pet tugs at her hair while she goes to find Gray's end zone. When she sees a hole in the middle of a building, she can't help but throw her hands up and go, "Touch Down! I win again!" Pet runs up and leaps into the rubble. She sees Gray's outline in the rocks, she steps forward once, but stops, suddenly.

She shakes as her eyes widen, her hand brushes under her nose and she gazes down at her hand to see red liquid. _I think I forgot to take my pills. _Searing pain cuts through her head and she clutches it, she groans as her hand shakes while trying to find her pill bottle. Lights dance across her eyes as new feelings bombard her senses. Her bones feel crushed and are digging into her body, from the inside. The soreness is deafening and the thought of moving is unbearable. Pet takes a knee and in the distance hears rubble shifting. She opens her squinted eyes, each breath is agony, her eyes meet Gray's, he holds his sword to her heart.

She sees the crazed look in his eye, he's past feeling the pain, it's become so present that it's irrelevant. She breathes heavily and struggles to move, but the pain fogs her brain. _Oh shit._

Pet closes her eyes, but hears the thud a body makes after falling unconscious. The worst she gets is a slice down her stomach. She opens them and witnesses the caring pooled within his orbs. She sways and he puts his big hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Pet, what's wrong!?"

Pet leans against his chest still searching for the bottle, she mumbles, all breathy, "Need... meds... I-in... my pocket..." Pet lets her hand fall and he finds the bottle for her.

"How many do you need?"

"One," she breathes. He lets one fall into the palm of her hand, and she brings it to her mouth and gulps it. She buries her head in the crook of his neck. The fog clears and he holds her to him, one armed, of course. Pet opens her eyes and feels the warmth from him, his smell of alcohol and sweat, man scent, tantalizing and comforting in the fumes. He smells so good and feels so nice, so warm. Pet closes her eyes again, _I don't want to go._

_Pet, wake the fuck up. Being with him will mean trouble for everyone. Just walk away... NOW!_

Pet sighs inwardly, before bringing her arms up against his chest and, despite the cracks forming on her heart, pushes him away. She sits back on her knees and he crouches there blinking at her with a small smile. "That was fast, " he says.

Pet nods and rubs her eyes, looking at him, then at Gray on the floor. "Thanks for that." She plays it off as nothing and stands to grab Gray.

"Hey."

"Hm?" She picks him up over her shoulder and turns back to Shanks, now standing. He smiles, "You know how I'm a pirate, right?"

Pet raises a brow and cocks her head, "Uh, yeah..." Pet frowns at him, _where is he going with this?_

"Well, I was just thinking that you probably think of me as a criminal... am I correct?"

"...I guess..." _Never._

Shanks laughs, "Well, I'm going to prove you wrong... by asking you to come spend some time with me..." He puffs out his chest, seemingly proud of himself for the idea.

Pet squints at him and her girlish hormones highlight the undertone, _a-a d-d-date?!_ Red begins to tint Pet's cheeks, she smiles, ignoring the heat, and challenges, "What are you going to do if I refuse?" Not because she wants to, but because she has to.

Shanks continues puffing out his chest and asserts, "Then I'm going to kidnap you, so you can spend some time with me. It'll totally be against your will," he winks.

Pet fazes out of the building, _what a coward. I just ran away. _

_Well, it's best considering you were going to go along with it._

_Yeah, I'm totally not going along with it..._

Pet can't restrain herself from looking back, he's still in that building watching her go, with a beautiful smile and his one hand on his sword hilt. _Cheeky bastard. Why's he smiling?_

Pet heads to her ship and finds all the pirates apprehended. She lands to face an angry mob yelling at her Marines for the destruction to their town. Pet lets Gray fall to the ground and works to appease the crowd. They're yelling at her next, she finally growls, "Yes, I could've went a little easier, but it would've been way worse if we weren't here! See that!" She points at the giant cannon on the front of his ship, they turn to it with skeptical gazes, "I got rid of two of them! You know how much worse this could've been. Now quit your whining you sorry sons of b-"

Lita covers Pet's mouth as she takes over, "We're very sorry for the trouble and we'll work with you to fix the buildings and maybe you'll find you like the protection?"

Pet's shivering with rage, but holds her tongue. Lita watches her as she takes her hand away. Pet crosses her arms and the mob disperses, pleased with the promise of rebuilding. Pet decides, "I could've handled it, ya know."

Lita scoffs, "Sure, you were handling it pretty well."

Pet shrugs, "I was considering knocking them out, if all else failed."

"Because that would help."

Pet huffs and stalks away, picking up Gray once more and taking him to the cell. She asks her medic to see to him. Pet is dragged to the infirmary by another medic who saw her cut. "I'm fine! I don't want to go!"

The medics pull her by her long legs into the room as she digs her claws into the planks. "Come on Pet-san!" "Just a bandage!"

"You can't make me do anything! I'm the Admiral!" Pet strains to leave their grasp, but they hold firm.

Only after, "We'll give you a treat!" does she release and they fall back into the room.

She sits up with a bright smile, "Why didn't you lead with that!?"

They shake their heads at her and begin to bandage up her cut and disinfect it. "Why didn't you want to be seen, anyways?"

"Dunno, I don't really need it, therefore, I don't want it." Pet shrugs.

The medics stare at her, before going off, "That's actually kind of wise."

Pet smiles wide, "And I'm only twenty six."

"...Pet... That's close to thirty... Middle-aged."

Dark clouds roll in over Pet's head, the medics sweat drop as Pet's face droops with the most pitiful face, her voice is a ghost lamenting, "I'm not old."

Pet brightens up quickly with a smile, before she runs out, "Age will never take me alive!" She runs away and the medics have all simultaneously smacked their foreheads at their Admiral's antic. She's so different from what the rumors usually say. They've yet to see her completely serious and in the zone.

Pet prances about the ship out of boredom and bugs Lita, "Litaaaa, come pllaaayyyy withh mmeeeeee..." Pet's shaking Lita's shoulders as the girl eyes her suspiciously.

"What's up with you? You're acting weirder than usual."

"What a valiant point you have made there! Dual me for the answer, my protege!" Pet draws her swords smirking, Lita frowns at her.

"Pet-san, I'm not really in the mood."

Pet's on her knees, "I'm bored! Let's go fight pirates! I don't want to stay docked on this island to do stupid negotiations."

"I don't want to be on this island any more than you do, but we have a job."

Pet growls, and begins pacing. She's like a caged animal. Pet finally sits cross legged in the middle of the deck and resigns herself to doing nothing. She just stares at Lita, the young Marine figures it's an attempt to make her uncomfortable enough to give her attention, but she's not falling for it.

Pet has her face in her hands when the Marines surrounding her begin to stir, she looks up after they're like, "Who is that!?" "Isn't that?" "No way!" "We're going to die!"

Pet stands and follows her underlings' stares to one man with a black jacket draped over his shoulders and a white shirt and shorts, he has a scar over his left eye, with his most defining feature as his red hair. Pet feels her heart quicken, the pace speeds up just as she'd been trying to recreate.

Shanks calls out, "I hear there's an Admiral aboard your vessel!"

The men all turn to her, she looks behind her, then up, "Hm, where's a spotlight when you need one? It'd be way more dramatic with a spotlight shining out of nowhere."

As if on cue, a light shines directly on Pet, she rolls her eyes at the spotlight atop her vessel, "Yeah, thanks, a little late though."

Her Marines smirk at her and give their thumbs up, from behind the spotlight.

Pet turns to Shanks, "Yes, would you like something?"

Shanks smiles wide, "Yes, I'd like to dual with you. A battle of sorts. If you don't, then we pirates, as pirates sometimes do, are going to attack your men without remorse."

Pet sees all his crew mates line up behind him, spread wide, she frowns, _they earned their name for a reason..._

_He's betting you won't waste your men's lives on a pointless fight. The Navy knows we can't take him down, not without a lot of problems in the future. They'd rather we just avoid the Yonko. Smart man._

_Is that respect I'm detecting?_

Pet's sees all her Marines' faces, and decides, _they won't win. I'll lose a lot in one fight. I can't let that happen. _

Pet motions for Lita to come over, Pet smiles at Shanks, "One moment please."

"Take your time."

Pet puts an arm across Lita's shoulders while facing away from Shanks and their crew mates, Pet begins, "I don't know how long this will take, you're in charge while I'm gone. I want you to take over on the negotiations with the islanders and get those buildings fixed. I have my personal den den mushi with me and you have the number. Use the business mushi in my office and explain to the higher ups where I am and why I left. Don't be afraid to be honest, they'll understand. No need to withhold information. I think that's it. I'll be back whenever. You think you can take charge while I'm gone?"

Lita stares at Pet, she's admiring her, the woman about to take on a Yonko, Lita nods, "Everything will be fine. You can count on me."

Pet smiles and pats her shoulder, before retracting her arm and turning to Shanks with a smirk, "Name the location." Shanks smiles and moves his head to gesture, "Let's get outta here."

Pet grabs her glider board and hops off the boat, Lita calls after her, "Good luck." Over her shoulder, Pet winks at her.

* * *

Side by side, Pet walks next to Shanks with his men trailing behind. Shanks grins at her, "See! I got you away!"

Pet shakes her head, "I only came for the dual."

Shanks smile lessens, "Oh, I don't really want to fight you."

Pet bumps into him, "Just a dual, I can't really have my pride in beating a one armed man. Nothing too serious."

Shanks seems indignant, "Just because I only have one arm doesn't make me a lesser man."

Pet's mind is dirty, she nods sarcastically, "Keep telling yourself that babe."

Shanks squints at her, "Fine, it seems I'll have to prove it."

Pet grins and steam flies out her ears, her mind is too dirty, "You're not going to beat me, even with your fancy title of Yonko. It's just a title."

Shanks bumps back into her and laughs, she laughs lightly in response. They head to his ship and Pet sets her board down. She leans against his rail and admires the ship, it's nice and large, but not overly so. She sits up with her hands atop the railing, facing the deck. Shanks comes up beside her, "So, where would the lady like to fight?"

Pet shrugs, "Surprise me. I'm not familiar with the New World, yet."

Shanks nods and scratches his chin, a playful expression on his features. He goes, "ah ha!," then heads off to find his navigator like a little boy goes to tell his mom that the ice cream truck is outside.

Pet shakes her head at his antics. She continues wearing her Admiral coat, and is turning out to the sea, with a solemn expression, by the time he comes back. Pet turns to him and he's serious, as well, after sensing her stress. Shanks blinks at her, "Something wrong?"

"Nope... So now that you know about my being an Admiral, don't you have any questions?"

Shanks cocks his head at her, "...oh yes, why are you a Marine?"

Pet nods, "The million dollar question... I'm a Marine for my family."

Shanks nods, although he senses more to the answer, he doesn't press.

Pet continues, "I was sort of adopted as an older sister after I was already a Marine though..." Shanks raises a brow at her, not sure where she's going with this. Pet looks out to sea, "Yep, some brothers in the East Blue... near Foosha Village..."

Shanks blinks at her for a moment, "Wait! You're talking about-! Really!?"

Pet turns back to him, "Yeah! I'm Luffy's older sister."

Shanks leans on his hand while staring at her with a smile, "So you knew... about my arm...?"

Pet nods, "Luffy never shut up about you. It wasn't hard to get the story out of him."

Shanks smiles, "He's a good kid. He's special."

Pet agrees and before she can help herself, she tackles Shanks with her arms around his neck, "Thank you for saving him." Pet can never thank him enough, for preserving Luffy so she could have a light guide her from the darkness. She knows it started with those boys. Shanks seems taken aback for a moment before warmly smiling and hugging her back with his good arm.

Pet feels the hug last longer than it should, before she pulls away, with a reddish glow to her cheeks. Shanks holds her hand and Pet's blush deepens, while he smiles at her and doesn't seem to turn away. Shanks seems to realize what he's doing, breaks off, and begins to laugh boisterously, "So you want to hear a story about my many adventures!"

Pet, actually, nods enthusiastically. And they find a corner of the ship to talk and gesture to one another, while Shanks' crew members pass them the occasional glance and smile.

* * *

Pet steps off the ship with Shanks in front. At the end of the ramp, he stops and lets her pass him. She nods at the deserted island in approval. Then she turns to Shanks, "We gonna do this?"

Shanks loses his smile, "I guess so."

Pet ascertains, "Don't hold back. I won't." Something tugs at her though.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

Pet smiles and the fight begins.

The two powerful foes clash in titan-like proportions. The ground beneath them rumbles and shakes as their blades meet, Pet lowered herself to one sword, yang, for this sparring session. If she were going for the kill, Pet would use both katana.

Shanks and Pet test each other a bit, just parrying blows before amplifying the intensity of the fight. As the intensity goes up, and they come to halt in the air, as each other's blades hold against the other, the air seems to blow from their touch and the ground of the island crumbles and cracks, splitting across the island, despite being in the air. Pet smiles, "Cool."

They break and slide across the sand still facing each other. "I didn't expect you to be this strong," Shanks smirks.

"Men," cue roll of the eyes, "don't underestimate me, you could lose your life in the future."

"Somehow, I doubt that." Pet secretly agrees.

Pet frowns at him a bit and dodges the slice sent her way, before dealing one of her own. Shanks disperses it with a cut of his own, the power of their projectiles equal. A rose blossoms on Pet's cheeks, _He's so perfect!_

_Take him out._

Pet ignores Daray and goes for a quick succession of jabs and cuts. They're dancing as Shanks dodges some and Pet dodges some, neither of them are going at their full power, probably afraid if the other can handle it. Pet grows tired of the game, she doesn't block a jab and the sword comes close to impaling her. She narrows her eyes at Shanks, while he seems furious that she wouldn't protect herself. "Enough, let's take things up a notch. A real dual... with real consequences." Shanks narrows his eyes at her, he doesn't want to. Pet doesn't care. She adds, "If you don't want to that's fine, but I'm going to... Aim to kill, but just because I know you can handle it." Pet winks at him and he continues frowning, inwardly her face matches his. Apparently, he thinks her logic is flawed somewhere in there.

Pet fazes out sight, Shanks eyes widen as he searches for her, before blocking a swipe from the air. _She's really fast!_

Shanks begins moving and Pet seems to be appearing all around him in quick succession, before a tiny cut is on his arm, she's playing with him. Shanks decides to show her a good time. The red head powers up, so to speak, and Pet's smiling wide when he crosses blades with her. The power from before is minimal to the power these monsters are letting off now. The ocean seems to be held back from their strength and the air is vibrating. Shanks' ship, which left after it dropped them off, is rocking in the waters away from the island.

Pet raises a brow and Shanks throws her back, their blades sliding off one another. She gracefully maneuvers away from a massive cut and twirls to send another his way. A few wisps of his hair are sliced off, if there's one thing Pet has on everybody, it's speed. She can send attacks quicker than he can dodge them, and he knows it too.

Shanks is serious now, however, and he and Pet both sweat slightly from the game before and the energy they're exerting now. Pet zooms in for a stab, but flips away when a cut is across her side. She riles in delight. Shanks sees the happiness Pet has in the fight, it's creepy, yet endearing. _She's insane! This is great!_

Shanks finds himself laughing along with Pet as they continue receiving and dishing attacks. He hasn't had a real dual since Hawk-eye.

Hours pass, Pet and Shanks both pant in battle stances across from each other. They wear light smiles, both have a range of cuts and scrapes, at one point they even traded blows using their long legs before picking up their katana to continue. Shanks laughs, "You're really good!"

Pet tilts her head with a smirk, ignoring the blaring red on her face from his praise, "You're not so bad yourself!"

Pet, satisfied, sheathes her sword as Shanks does. Shanks smiles, "I thought Admirals were weaker, but you held up pretty well." Of course, Pet is a little worse off than Shanks, but not by much, even just sparring with a Yonko is enough to give her an idea where her power lies. She can hold her own, and she can't help but wonder how much Shanks was holding back, she held back too, after all, she definitely doesn't want to kill the guy... He's too awesome for Pet to even attempt to extinguish his fire. It's much too hot, he's much too hot for Pet.

Pet walks over with a slight limp, he wanted to slow her down a bit. He sits on the beach away from the island they just destroyed. The foliage is all cut or blasted away, even Pet doesn't really understand how a fire started.

Pet sits next to him with a sigh, "This was nice."

"Glad you liked it."

Pet nods and leans against Shanks when he throws an arm over her shoulders and pulls her closer. She's content and tired and bleeding, but Shanks is too, so it's all right.

Shanks questions, "I wonder when we're gonna get picked up. It could be a while."

Pet mumbles, "I'm cool with that."

A rumble tells her Shanks laughed, "I am too." The light is fading from the long day as they watch the sunset. When his ship is closing in, Pet's eyes widen as she flushes, _I'm on a date! With Shanks, no less! Holy shit!_

_Women._

_... w-w-we j-just w-w-w-watched a-a s-s-s-s-sunset t-t-together!_

_I'm surprised you didn't notice it sooner. Or the fact that you're currently curled against him, laying on the sand, with waves and all that romantic shit girls go bonkers over._

Pet's heart is a volcano spewing fire and magma across her body. Pet realizes she is laying down next to Shanks, her head on his arm with his hand resting on her shoulder. He's snoring softly, Pet's hand is a fist against his white shirt, torn a bit from their fight. The firelight dances over them from the burning island. Pet sighs and snuggles in deeper, _just this once, I'll allow it only once._

_Don't allow yourself a taste... then you'll crave for it._

Pet looks up at the half moon rising. She closes her eyes and feels its power, she inhales deeply and opens her eyes. They glow blue and both her's and Shanks' wounds heal some before she uses up her power and nestles once more against his neck. "Thanks," Shanks sleepily mumbles.

She whispers, "Don't mention it." She pulls away slightly and he has one eye open at her with a wide lip smile.

"You have pretty eyes." Shanks nods before closing his eye and shifting slightly.

Pet's jaw drops and she turns away, the compliment sets the thermostat on her cheeks to Flames of Hell. She steams slightly and buries her face against his chest, a muffled, "t-thanks..." _That's not even your real eye color! This man knows nothing about you!_

_I know! I just... I don't know!_

Pet rolls away when the ship drops anchor and Yasopp calls out, "Oi, Captain! Are you guys done then?"

Pet stands up and walks over to Shanks sitting up. He noticed her fleeing, but doesn't point it out. She's thankful. He's up, "Yeah."

Lucky Roo asks, "Who won?"

Shanks smiles, and grabs Pet's hand, she blushes as she's twirled, "Who do you think?"

Pet fumes, "It was a tie!"

Shanks laughs, "Its a man's duty to let the woman win!"

"Who do you take me for? As if I'd be childish enough to get butthurt over a matter as simple as who won."

Shanks pouts and pokes her, "It matters."

Pet cracks a smile, "Okay," she pats his head. He smiles down at her and they both head to the ship. Pet's limp is gone yet Shanks has his arm around her waist as if holding her up, before she complains he's impeding her movement then he hoists her up on his shoulder, so she's practically sitting there. Shanks laughs, "Better?"

Pet hops off, "No!" She bonks his head and he pouts at her.

"I was just trying to help!"

Pet's smacking herself as she walks up, she doesn't notice the crew shaking their heads at the two. Shanks speeds up so they walk side by side, he's like a puppy jumping around Pet, asking for her attention. Pet glares at him as he continues with his seducing, even though he's not actually seducing her, he's just being himself, which Pet finds seductive.

Pet says, "I should go, if our dual is over."

Shanks frowns and replies firmly, "No!"

Pet quirks a brow, "Are you going to stop me?"

Shanks crosses his arms with a humph, "I'm Captain and I say no, you have to listen to me while on my ship." One eye peeks at her, she blinks at him.

"Well I'm an Admiral." She sticks her tongue out at him.

"Pirates are cooler!"

Pet nods, "Can't disagree with that logic..." She shakes her head, "I mean, Marines' are better!"

Shanks sticks his own tongue at her. They stand there for a few minutes glaring and sticking their tongues out before Beckman walks by and pulls Pet's coat off.

She snaps, "Hey! That's mine!"

Shanks laughs and points, "You'll get it back after you spend time with me! Baka!"

Pet growls and pounces, strangling Shanks, but putting nothing behind it. Shanks just lays there smiling up at her. Sense comes to Pet, _oh my god, I'm on top of him! _She's at the end of the ship suddenly whistling as if nothing happened. He looks above him, at her, from his place on the floor. Shanks gets up and walks over, "Talk to me."

Pet ceases whistling and sends a questioning glance his way. "About what?"

Shanks sits up on the railing and pats the place beside him, Pet complies. She sits beside him. He turns to her, "Anything you want? Don't you have questions for me?..." He puffs up, "After all, I was on the Pirate King's ship..." Shanks looks at her, "Any questions?"

Pet frowns and looks up at the stars, thinking. "Any siblings?"

"Nope. You said, you were adopted into Luffy's family."

Pet nods, "Yeah, there are two others you'll probably meet someday."

"But you got into the Marines for your other family?"

Pet tenses, "Yes..."

"How long have you been a Marine?"

"I've been a Marine for like twenty years."

Shanks' jaw drops, "How old are you!?"

Pet grows a tick and punches the guy. He's smoking on the floor as she screams, "I'm not old! You're older than me, you derp!" Pet's growling at him as he sits up.

He rubs his cheek, indignantly, "But you've been a Marine for twenty years then! How old were you when you were listed?"

Pet rubs her neck as she wears a troubled expression, "...I was six when I began..."

Shanks is up and looking her in the eye, "What do you mean? How is that possible? They wouldn't-" He stops because Pet's extremely uncomfortable.

"There were special circumstances," she responds quietly.

Shanks leans against the ledge with an all set expression, Pet's eyes are covered in shadow. He orders with a questioning undertone, "Explain them to me."

Pet looks at him, meets his gaze. He sees the fire beneath as they glow, "No." Shanks watches her for a moment. The tenseness charges the air.

Shanks concedes, "Someday."

He catches the whispered, "Never," from Pet. Shanks blinks at her as she avoids his gaze, it seems as though a dark cloud has obscured Pet from his view. He's willing to wait for it to clear. He pats his stomach and loudly complains, "Ah someone kept me from eating on some island! I'm dying from starving all day!"

He sees the clouds clear slightly as Pet reforms, "You do not ask for a picnic in the middle of a dual! Have you no manners!?"

Shanks grows his smile, "Whose the one without manners here!? You kept me from sustaining myself, now I'm weakened! Who knows what horrors you have running through your mind at the idea of my being in a weakened state?!"

Pet holds her nose as blood begins pouring out of it, "H-how d-did you k-know?!"

Shanks wasn't expecting her to agree, he holds his own nose now too, "Ah Pet! You dirty mind!"

Pet laughs and shows him her hand, "Ketchup!"

Shanks' jaw drops and he's on the floor laughing so hard, "Now you're lying too! Poor manners!"

"At least I'm not the one with a dirty mind."

Pet chokes on her spit when Shanks winks and says, "Only for you." The thermostat for Pet's temperature breaks.

She covers her ears, "La la la, I can't hear you!"

Shanks is yelling at her while she continues going "La la la..." He's trying to force her hands away and the crew are laughing their asses off.

At some point the two are running around the ship, screaming like children, and bugging the members of the crew afterwards, "Food! We're hungry!" Pet's gnawing on Shanks shoulder while he asks his cook, "Could you do something about this?"

Pet muffles, "You like it."

Shanks shakes his head, "So immature... Ow, ow!"

Pet digs her teeth in, "You started it."

Shanks whacks her gently with a newspaper, "Bad Pet! Drop it!"

Pet rubs her face as she releases him, she grabs the newspaper. He utters an "Oh shit," then they restart their game of chase. The cooks get to work with the food for dinner. Eventually, they venture outside the ship to find the two laying on the deck panting and staring up at the stars. They look to the cooks' intrusion, then Pet steps on Shanks' stomach while yelling, "I'll race you!"

Before her foot leaves his gut, after his initial reaction of curling up, he grabs it so she trips onto her front. She looks up as he runs away. She scrambles after him accusing, "Cheater!"

* * *

Pet can't admit that she's having the best time of her life, but she can think it. Pet and Shanks drink and joke with the others before falling asleep leaning against each other propped against a wall in the mess hall. His crew leave them there for the night.

On the walk out, Lucky Roo comments, "I've never seen Captain act this way before, seems more with her around."

Beckman smirks, "She looks like she's having a good time too."

They go to bed light-hearted.

Pet wakes up, alert. She's leaning against Shanks, he shifts slightly. Pet looks at their entwined hands. She sighs and his deep sleepy voice mumbles, "Mornin."

Pet yawns, "Morning." They both get to awakening fully when Pet notes what woke her up. She tests the air with a frown before pulling Shanks out, he's totally unprepared.

"Hey! Where we going?"

Pet gets out and nods at the pirate ship in the distance. "Seems you have a challenger."

Shanks squints out at the ship, "Man!" Pet smiles at him and tries to get her hand away, but he doesn't let go. Pet lets it alone. Once the ship is a bit closer, however, Shanks brightens, "Oh! No! They're allies!"

Pet frowns when she looks out at the ship, a brow raised, she sees better than he does, and hears better as well. Her features are hardened, _those pirates are his allies... but..._

_Pet... calm down..._

The ship pulls up beside Shanks', and he hails them, he doesn't notice Pet's darkening aura. The Captain of the ship smiles wide, but Pet smells deception coming from him. _He's true pirate scum and Shanks is friends with him._

Shanks pulls Pet along to meet the man, she nods at him with a hard glare, the man's name is Shay. He has green hair in straight locks inches above his shoulders. He's a muscular man. Shanks greets him warmly. Pet's eyes search the ship and she breathes deep, listening within the ship.

Before anyone can blink, Pet's foot has connected with Shay's face so he falls backward on his back with a crunching sound. Shanks is surprised and tugs at Pet's arm, "What'd you do that for!?"

Pet rips her arm away from him, her red eyes act as a knife threatening his heart, "I know an enemy when I smell one." Her voice is a growl. Shanks frowns at her.

Pet retracts her foot so Shay can spit up blood, all his pirates are down as soon as their weapons are raised, the few left standing are easily dealt with by Pet. She's furious. Pet hops aboard the ship and follows the trail of fear.

Shanks takes a moment to be baffled by her suddenness, before following her. Pet stalks through the ship and heads to the lower decks, the smell of blood fills the air. She grows angrier and angrier with each step. The door of impending doom looms in front of her, but anger fills her very fiber. She opens it and her eyes adjust easily to the dim lighting. Her expression softens as she walks over to the young woman held up by chains. The woman's bloody and battered, she stirs in fright, but Pet calms her with a flash of blue where her eyes are and a simple brush of the skin. Pet frees her as Shanks comes upon the room with a heavy heart.

"...Pet...I didn't know...I swear... I didn't."

Pet ignores him and picks the woman up bridal style, except the bride is dressed in red and her heart is damaged. Pet passes Shanks, without looking at him, she merely whispers, "You should've." Shanks is remorseful in watching her go, he follows behind, if he had a tail, it'd be drooping.

She gets outside as Shay is standing up. Pet's blue eyes meet his, Shanks can't help but notice the veins on her arms as she heals the woman and takes her pain. "Shay, explain this to me, so I might understand what gave you the idea or the right."

Shay has his arm pressed to his nose, "I'm a pirate."

Plain and simple, Pet nods and she turns to Shanks, he's rigid, but loosens as she passes the woman to him. Shanks takes her obediently and Pet turns to the man, as soon as the woman is out of Pet's arms, her eyes shift back to their red. Pet cracks her neck and says, "And I'm a Marine, by your logic, I will feel no remorse in what I'm about to do."

Shay frowns and takes a step back as Pet starts towards him, she's behind him in a wisp, her hand on his neck. The veins reappear and she keeps hold as Shay takes a knee, his expression pained. Pet's face is stoic and Shay cries out, he's on the ground and Pet maintains the connection. He's shivering then he's not, then he's beating the deck from pain coursing through his body, her pain. Pet ceases the payback and retracts her palm, a blink and the color change once more. Her face reddens in hatred, "Now for some extra." She shifts to wolf spirit form, massive and scarred. She presses her paw against his back and he gasps and coughs blood as she digs her claws into his spine and he screams when she drags it down. Her wolf face is devoid of emotion until she snarls and chomps down on his neck so he gurgles in pain before dying in between her jowls.

She lets go when the deed is done, the blood drips from her wolf mouth and her red eyes meet Shanks. He sees the anger and hatred, yet he knows, it's not directed at him. She shakes once before shifting back. Pet wipes the blood on her chin with her arm, she walks away from the body, she doesn't mourn him. Pet has no sympathy for those men like him, not ever, and especially not since...

Pet's regular yellow eyes are on Shanks as she reads his reaction, he portrays nothing, so she says, "I believe that you didn't know, and as he said... you're all pirates..." Shanks sucks in a breath, Pet continues, "Help this woman and I'll forget all about this."

Shanks looks down at the woman in his arm, he holds her like a baby, one armed. He nods with a solemn expression, "Okay."

They tidy up with the other ship and clean up Pet's mess, the woman is with the medics. Pet's going to stick around to deal with her when she wakes up, but her relationship with Shanks has strained a bit. He wonders why she's taking this woman to heart. She just sits there brooding and staring at the woman, tensing every time Shanks is near. The bad thing about Brock getting rid of Pet's scars, is now people assume she's as strong as she looks, like she's never been hurt before. She only has two left over, the one on her face and shoulder, not enough to presume extreme damage to her soul.

Shanks frets over her seriousness and coldness to him now. He doesn't know what to do. He panics.

Pet is pulled abruptly from her seat by him barging in and dragging her from her vigil by the woman's side. She growls, "What are you doing? Hey!"

He doesn't let go as he pulls her into a room she's unfamiliar with. Shanks begins, "Okay, I don't think you should be all mad at me now. We were having a good time and why are you so affected by this!? I'm so sorry Pet, but please forgive me! I didn't know and if I did, I wouldn't have condoned it!" He's being truthful and sincere. Pet can smell it, she knows the concern he has for that woman and for his relationship with Pet, but something clouds her.

Pet scoffs, "There is a woman in there, who is probably so traumatized by this experience that she probably has PTSD and you're upset over me being a little peeved at you! So selfish! Sorry, someone else needs my attention!" Pet goes to walks off, but Shanks holds her back.

"I'm sorry about it too, but its obvious she won't wake up for a bit. There's nothing more that you can do. She'll heal and you'll be there and I'll be there. Why are you so angry still?"

Pet wrenches her arm away at his words, some part of them struck a chord, "Because there are people like that! Because- Because I didn't get a knight! Here I am saving some poor soul and no one was there to save mine! I'm sorry if you think I was angry with you! B-But I wasn't! I'm angry with her!" Pet looks away and Shanks frowns at her with a troubled expression, she continues without strength in her voice, "There I was, and here she is... with you, there for her..." Pet's hand brushes her face, "Why didn't I get you, when I was alone... Why didn't I get someone like me?" Pet's strength slips and Shanks can detect the slight tremble to Pet's hands.

Shanks embraces her as she covers her face in her hands, she's buried in his broad chest. He whispers, "I'm so sorry... I'm here now..." They stand like that for a minute, Pet leans against him, but she doesn't cry. She ran out of tears on the matter long ago.

Pet's eyes meet his as he addresses her, "I'll always be there for you, Pet." All she can hear are their hearts beating in unison, she closes her eyes as Shanks lips press softly against hers. To say the least, wisps of ice and fire simultaneously travel across Pet's skin. Her eyelids flutter and she gasps slightly.

_The! Fuck! Are! You! Doing!?_

Pet pulls away as if struck by lightning, she touches her lips and Shanks watches her. "What have I done?" Pet frets and continues taking steps back.

Shanks tries to calm her, "Pet, it's going to be alright." Her whole world is crashing down and her soul is ripped in two. Shanks can see the storming emotions churning within her mind, the confusion.

"You would say that! You don't know anything about me! I'm an Admiral in the Navy! I-I have to go!" Pet bursts out and Shanks calls after her, he can't match her speed, no matter what. As if someone announced the occasion, the weather is stormy outside. Pet grabs her glider and braves the turbulent waters. Shanks continues calling after her in a wild frenzy, but she's already gone from his view.

Thank God he didn't see her face, enough to make anyone tear up, she's mostly in shock though. Her heart is like lead and it feels as though her chest is pressurized. When she's alone, she wails and howls in pain with no one to hear her over the storm. _He's not here._

_...for good reason..._

Pet travels as far as she can, but she can never escape. The kiss was the spark and in every sense, in every occasion, the torch has been lit, the gauntlet has been thrown, the chip has been knocked off one's shoulder, the plane has taken off, the trigger has been pulled, etc. She can't ever escape her feelings and the fire may consume her. All her passion and love has found someone to point at, as a compass always points North, Pet will always be drawn to Shanks. Such is the fate created by one small kiss.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Bam! Got it out earlier! What do you think? Let me know! Don't hate me... Review, Follow, Favorite!

**THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO HAVE REVIEWED, FOLLOWED, AND FAVORITED! YA'LL ROCK!**


	17. All Work, Some Play

**Author's Note: **Ta da! I'm going to be extremely busy these next few weeks because of finals, AP exams, SAT, ACT, Driving Test, and flippin work... So please be patient. This is a shorter chapter, I have a lot planned for the future, just not enough time to write it all, haha. I am really just taking these smaller chapters so that I have more time to think of the ending and all that I'll do with it. I see it ending in around ten more chapters, but we'll see. I'm not exactly planning the story with an outline, I didn't even mean for Shanks to come in like that or that I'd end up pairing the two, but it happened, and people seemed to enjoy it.

**OC** based chapter, sorry...

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 16

Lita had a strange urge to flee when she witnessed Pet's return. Pet came walking along the docks towards her battleship, but she wore the most hardened look that Lita could've mistaken her for a statue come to life. Lita, in no rush to greet her, takes careful steps to meet Pet, "Pet-san, how'd it go?"

Images of Shanks flash through Pet's mind and a flare of pain aches in her heart, though she responds, "Fine."

Lita nods and begins catching Pet up with the news. She feels as though she's walking on eggshells and wonders if Pet is just a little startled from a near death experience. After all, Lita can only assume that the battle was bloody since Pet took some days off to heal before coming back, she assumes this because the older woman doesn't have any wounds. At least, none she can identify by appearance.

Pet nods at the information and the progress, then she tells Lita, "Good work, I'll take over from here, alright?"

Lita salutes her and Pet walks off in a serious manner, all her playful nature from before has disappeared, without a trace. Pet thinks over the last few days she spent alone after fleeing Shanks' ship. She still has some thinking to do.

The first day, Pet just paced back and forth confused as to her reaction and what happened. The next day, she would beat things and cry, howl as a wolf. Until the final day, when she pulled herself together, somewhat, and acknowledged her deep feelings for the man she was just beginning to get to know. On this day, she decided that she couldn't spend any more time with Shanks and his crew and she'd have to avoid them, she told herself that she has a job to protect her family, her duty is to her people. Pet deluded herself, _the reason Yuki failed was because she had too many connections to the people, it made her weak. I won't make the same mistake, there's no time for love in a war. I've been fighting this war since I was born and I will come out victorious, no matter the cost. Maybe aft- No! No time for hope either! I'm going to go back to my job and carry it out perfectly as always, I won't be hung up on Shanks forever after all. He was just a fling, nothing more..._ Pet nodded to herself and began her trek back. She had barely eaten or slept while in her disturbed state. Daray sat tearing up the grass while lending her an ear, he didn't have to say anything. Pet's one of those types that asks questions, but answers them herself right after.

Now, she emerges from her room looking crisp, she lets Lita lead her to the negotiation room. Pet meets all the town's leaders with a serious nod and takes a seat to hear their issues with a Marine base and reassure them there would be no chance of corruption... Not while Pet is present. It didn't take long for Pet to quell their doubts and get them on board with the Navy division on their island. She had that effect on people, a calming effect when she's serious. Even Lita was being lulled by Pet's authority, like children searching for direction, or a lighthouse guiding ships into bay.

When Pet left, she had to make a call to tell her superiors what happened and that the negotiations were a success. They could start sending materials and men to establish a division on Lluvia Island. On the matter of the dual, Pet was forced to go along with their plans of exploiting her 'victory' even though it was a tie. Pet buried her face in her hands after the call, _they want to get the story on the front page... What am I going to do? He's going to hate me._

_You're over him, remember? You shouldn't care what he thinks, let him hate you. It'll serve as a good barrier to keep you away._

Pet nods solemnly, _I guess so._

The next few days, Pet oversees the Marine ships coming in and sometimes ventures out in her own ship to help against some pirates attacking. Pet deals with them easily, and once word gets out of the Admiral on the island, the pirates just stop coming. Pet was getting her smile back, until the news reporters started bombarding her with questions on her dual with Shanks. Pet was waving her hands at them, "You guys have it all wrong..." _What am I supposed to say? That we were both going easy on each other despite being enemies?_

A reporter speaks above the rest, "Oh! So you lost, didn't you!?"

Pet grows a tick, and takes Daray's advice, _try to lie in a way that doesn't incriminate you or Shanks._

_Easier said than done._ Pet clears her throat to silence the reporters and the pictures, thinking on the go, "It was a very hard fight on both sides, but, in the end, we had to stop because our battlefield broke. I'm afraid the results are inconclusive as to who would've won." Pet lies and swivels her head, with a pitying look, her features say, "Shame, shame."

The reporters take a step back, however, "You mean you were on equal terms! It was like a tie!"

Pet growls, "Nobody won, the fight couldn't be finished! No tie, no win, no lose... yet."

Pet frowns as they pounce, "Yet! You said 'yet'! There's going to be a continuation!?"

Pet rubs her face, "Maybe, I don't know, I'm busy!" Lita admires the strength the Admiral displays in not running away from the paparazzi or killing them all. Pet could kiss Lita when the younger steps in to disperse the vultures. Pet takes a seat, "Ugh! The only part I hate about being an Admiral. Freaking animals."

Lita shrugs and asks, "Was that true? What you said, I mean. You guys didn't finish?"

Pet frowns and nods, "I speak the truth and nothing but the truth. After all, I have to set an example for the youngsters." Lita shakes her head at Pet, when she leaves Pet watches her go, _I never realized how much I hate lying to people. Usually I just don't give an answer if I can't give an honest one._

_Little Pet is growing up._

Pet sighs and arises, the citizens greet her as she strolls through town, they respect her more for her part in repelling rowdy pirates. When Ren saw her, he winked and whispered, "I hope it went well with lover-boy."

Pet smiled at him and shook her head, "We're from different worlds, it could've never worked out, not with the position I hold."

Ren copied the head shaking, "You know what they say," Pet frowned and he continued, "if you love someone, let them go. If they come back, they're yours forever, if not, they never were."

Pet cocked her head, "That's a nice thought."

Ren smiled at her, "Just you wait."

"I've never been a patient person." Pet walked away.

The following day, she was infuriated by the News Coos announcing her great work in reforming the New World and her "great" battle with one of the Yonko, "Red-Haired Shanks." It went into odd detail that Pet must've forgotten she went into, and told of how she stood on par with the legendary man. Pet was banging her head into a wall, _he's going to hate me! How dare they!?_

Unfortunately, Pet has a hard noggin and the wall paid dearly for the outrages of the paparazzi. They made her out to be some up-and-comer hot-shot blazing across the New World. Her underlings peeked inside her office after the loud banging stopped and discovered their Admiral laying on the floor of the office, forlorn in appearance. One of them asks, "Is everything alright, Pet-san?"

Pet turns her piercing gaze on those in the doorway, "They're going to kill me... every single pirate in this section of the world, they're coming after me," she chuckles dryly, without humor, "I should make a will, maybe go into hiding for a few years. I'm getting too old for this shit. Ugh." Pet rubs her face.

The Marines are inside and reassuring her, "No! You'll be fine!" "You're an Admiral, after all!" "Come on Pet-san, you're still young and powerful."

Pet stares at the ceiling, from the floor, "I know."

"Eh?" "What do you mean?"

Pet sighs, "I'll be fine because I'm an Admiral, young and powerful... but in coming after me, you guys will get in the crossfire... Not that I doubt your capabilities, but I hate losing good men."

The Marines are silent until, "You mean... you're worried about us?"

Pet blinks before her gaze turns skeptical, "No derp, I'm the leader of this ship, everyone on it is my responsibility."

The Marines don't know what to say, so they do the only thing they can think of in the moment. They salute her. Pet frowns at them before standing up. She returns the salute and says, "I'll do my best." She lets her hand fall and they do too, she orders them out, she has to make a few calls.

First she calls Vegapunk, he answers with a "Pet! You sly wolf! You fought a Yonko! I demand details!"

Pet sighs, "What's this? You don't believe the newspaper?"

The snail scoffs, "As if anyone can trust what the government says! Tell me what happened! Don't lie to me either! I'll know!" Pet smiles at him, _no you wouldn't._

"I can't with this connection. We'll have to boost it." Her snail grows serious, Pet watches as Vegapunk shifts to their hidden meaning language. That's what happens when two extremely smart people come together, they find ways of tricking the lessers.

"Did you get a kick out of the fight?" -Some secret reason for the fight?

"There were many kicks. My opponent even threw a punch before we started. Mainly we used swords, the cuts took a while to heal." -A lot of hidden reasons for the fight, reasons the government can't know about, otherwise I'm in trouble. We met before he challenged. We talked a lot and the encounter made me question myself, it's still hurting.

"Anything life threatening? Have you been seen by a medic?" -What are you going to do?

"No worries, I'm the picture of health. I'll be fine." -Nothing's changed, all my injuries are healed, any damage left is mental. I'll get over it.

"That's good to know, at least. I hope your travels are going well. It can't be easy with the position you're in. Hey, have you seen many animals in the New World?" -Hang in there. Are you feeling something inappropriate for a pirate, what with you being an Admiral?"

"Yes."

"I see. Anything really dangerous?" -Is it serious?

"They usually don't have the chance to be dangerous. The best thing to do is avoid them, after all, I've never really liked killing animals." -I plan on ignoring the problem, him. Then I hope to get over this little issue.

"You really are something, Pet. Alright, well I got to go. Good luck with everything, love. Talk to you later."

Pet drops the act, "Thanks for listening. Bye."

**-gacha-**

Pet spasms to rid herself of the jumbled thoughts. She has a short chat with her superiors that they're letting her get back to patrolling. She's taken many pirates into custody already and left those in her dungeon for the other ships to take to Enies Lobby. They want her to keep up the good work.

* * *

After Pet's conferring with everyone, via den den mushi, and finishing up some paperwork regarding the construction of the new Marine division, Pet gets her men ready to set sail. She finds a discrepancy, however, a young male Marine informs her that Lita has gone missing. When Pet made further inquiries, they said, "Every time this one guy came around, she got skittish." Pet frowned and went on a hunt for her second. Her investigative self came out and she went sniffing, covertly, through town. She caught whiffs here and there, but didn't determine anything odd, until she came across some blood. Pet merely offered a "hm" before carrying on. The blood was just a few drops, nothing life threatening, _a punch?_

She went through the cobblestone pathways, winding through deeper into the heart of the town, thereby the island. Finally, she came across a house, a regular house, nothing spectacular about it. She came to the front door and knocked. A man came and shouted at her to "Go away," through the door. Pet rolled her eyes and kicked the door down, taking the man with it. She walked over it, "I have probable cause to investigate your home, sir." She follows the fear scent upstairs and finds Lita cowering in a corner of the room. Pet crouches by her, "Lita, sweetie, I'm here, you're fine. Tell me what happened."

Lita looks up at her, her cheeks are damp, "I-I ran away..." She shakes her head, holding her face. Pet brings the younger into her arms.

Lita doesn't have to speak anymore as Pet's eyes shift from yellow to blue. She gets glimpses and understands the situation. "So you got married, much too young, to an abusive man and ran away, joined the Marines. Seems fine with me, but I think your husband has an issue with that."

Lita quavers, "I thought I could avoid him, but he won't let me go. I don't want to hurt him."

Pet smiles while petting the woman's hair, "I'll take care of it."

Pet stands and pulls Lita with her. Lita stays close against her superior as Pet leads her down and out. Pet's calculating eyes fall on the man holding a gun pointed at her. Pet can't help but roll her eyes once more, then she sighs, "You better be ready to pull the trigger, you won't be able to take it back." The young man shakes as he continues pointing.

He directs his speech at Lita, "Baby, I love you. We can still be a family. I'll do better, but I can't let this woman coerce you into leaving."

Lita doesn't face him, as long as Pet has a connection she can hear Lita saying, _I don't love you, you hurt me. Just let me go, I don't want to hurt you._

Pet clicks her tongue, "Sorry, but she belongs to the Navy now. You can go get a paper. Write your complaints in neat handwriting... Then shove it up your ass. Get out of my way, before I get ugly."

The man seems ready to pull the trigger, but Pet has already broken his arm. He lies on the floor clutching it and writhing in pain. Pet goes back to Lita and pulls her out. Lita frowns at her husband shouting on the floor and now cursing at the women leaving. He shuts up after Pet turns her glare on him, she informs him, "The divorce papers will be here within the week for you to sign. Have a nice day." Pet walks out with Lita following behind. The orange-ette seems a little shocked, but is on autopilot. Pet walks with a scowl and her hands in her pockets. She turns back to Lita and complains, "Hurry up, we're supposed to be setting sail soon."

Lita blinks at the Admiral, _aren't we going to talk or something?_

Pet smiles at her, Lita frowns, I_s she reading my thoughts...?_ Pet shakes her head before turning back. Lita's eyes narrow, _O__i._ Lita runs to catch up, she realizes as she does that her bruises are all gone. First there was the pulling forcefully, then there was the punch after she tried telling him calmly that she didn't love him, now all traces of those injuries are gone... gone when? Lita's eyes move to the older woman walking beside her, _did she? How?_

Pet's back to semi-serious. They arrive at the ship and set sail. Lita seems quieter than usual, Pet notices, but doesn't comment on her behavior. Lita enters her office later in the night. Pet looks up from the pile of paperwork with a raised brow, "Can I help you?"

"No, I was wondering if I could help you? I mean... after... I didn't realize... I just thought that... Point is I underestimated you." Lita exasperates. Pet blinks at her rapidly for a moment, before smiling lightly.

"Lita, I've been around as both a woman and Marine long enough to have earned my title of Admiral. Yet, I find it more insulting when people don't question and assume I'm up to the task. I respect your challenging, but I assure you, it's unnecessary."

Lita nods, "I realize that now, thank you... for helping me out."

Pet watches Lita, "Don't mention it." Pet goes back to her work, Lita lingers. Pet closes her eyes for a moment, then turns back to her underling, "Is there something else?"

Lita asks, "Can I help with the paperwork?"

Pet leans back and looks at the papers, "I think I got it, but if you want to help, then here," she hands a stack to Lita and gives her a simple job of organizing them so Pet can look over them later. Lita's respect grows as she peers over the content of the papers, they're recruitment documents with Marines' profiles on each. Apparently, Pet's in charge of assigning Marines to different stations in the New World. _They trust her with this stuff, it's like she's the one in charge in the New World, the most trying sea of all._

* * *

Pet will sometimes explore on her own for a while, with her glider and the wind. She enjoys riding across the waves and destroying pirate ships as she goes, then calling her Marines to come arrest them. She earns quite a reputation for engaging in these activities. Many pirates in the New World grow angry with her, but she sets up a lot of posts island to island, not as many because she knows most Marines aren't up to the challenge, only a few ships patrol the waters. She can't have any lesser Marines on those ships for fear of having them cross paths with allies of the Yonko, she has made it clear that they are not to engage without a high ranking officer there to call the shots. She has made it mandatory and given few Captains and Vice Admirals within the New World her blessing, only those she thinks can make the right judgement call.

She does as she pleases in the New World, she doesn't fear the pirates and toying with them amuses her. After all, she's just doing her job.

She meets up with her underlings at an island by the name of Jascos. She hopped on the docks, setting her board on her shoulder in one fluid motion. She blends in with the crowd and goes to find her ship. Alighting onto the roof of a nearby building and getting a good lay of the land, she comes to the conclusion that her Marines have yet to arrive. She shrugs and goes to find a nice tavern to hang out in. On the way there, she stops and straightens up. She's sensed a familiar presence nearby, she seems to dissipate from the crowd and reappears behind her stalker. She smiles at him, he's looking out from behind a wall at where she was just standing. Pet taps the man on the shoulder. He practically jumps out of his skin before smiling at her and pulling down his hood. "Pet, good to see you."

"Likewise, Daiki. What brings you to this part of the globe?"

Pet leans on the wall, crossing her arms. Daiki frowns, then, "Dragon-san asked me to come give you a message."

Pet nods, "Is this to do with Kuma? Or something else?"

"Well, both... Kuma has been a pirate for a few months and established himself, he's sent his request to be a Shichibukai, so we were wondering if you would help with that. We understand that you have more power in the Navy now. Also... A warning."

Pet's brows furrow, Daiki continues, "You're stirring up a lot of trouble and the pirates aren't happy. You should beware any mass attacks, they're almost sounding desperate."

Pet chews on her lip while bobbing her head, she stops, "Thanks for the heads up, but I should get used to this anyways. There'll always be threats. No worries, I always come out all right."

Daiki shakes his head at her, condescending, "That's debatable."

Pet smiles and punches Daiki in the arm playfully, "More or less, I always get myself out." For some reason a pang is sent through Pet's heart at her own words. Daiki frowns as well.

"I should be going. So about Kuma?"

Pet gives a thumbs-up, "I'm on it."

Daiki smiles and the two go their separate ways. Pet remembers, "Oh, tell Sabo I said hi." Daiki waves while still walking away. Pet turns back, and as soon as she's out in the street, her Marines spot her.

She smiles at them and goes to greet the few while they lead her back to the ship. Lita dips her head to her and Pet sidles up, "Any complications while I was away?"

Lita shakes her head in response, "Everything was smooth sailing and we caught all the pirates you left decimated in your wake."

Pet smiles at her underling, "Good. Did I get any calls? Anything?"

Lita bumps her shoulder against Pet's, "Lots of stuff, you realize you're pretty much running this joint in the New World right? There's a stack of work they want you to finish and they want your opinion on establishing more bases in the New World. Akainu seems to be pushing for it wholeheartedly. Then some cases of insubordination and they want you to investigate some other Marines who have complaints filed against them..."

Pet waves her hand to silence the younger, she smirks at the late teen, "Better get started then, huh."

Lita watches Pet go, the woman greets her Marines as she walks to her office, occasionally stopping to chat and joke with them. Lita feels her respect grow, _I used to think that the dark mysterious Pet was the one for me, but this Pet is way cooler. She faces her problems with a smile, what greater power is there than that? _Lita thinks on the few times she's seen Pet in the zone, that change of personality from happy-go-lucky to I-can-tear-your-throat-out-with-my-teeth makes her all the more mysterious. Lita wishes she could be on equal terms with Pet, someone who could consult with her as an equal.

Pet gets inside her office and gets to dissecting the stack of papers. On the issue of increasing Navy presence in the New World, Pet disagrees, she writes:

_Sengoku-san,_

_I'm sorry, but I don't believe increasing our power in a sea that's extremely unpredictable will help the Navy. I've spent enough time here to know how fast the weather changes and the pirates here are ten times stronger than in the other seas. We'd lose more than we'd gain. I recommend we heighten our power in the other seas, so that we may deal with the pirates before they have a greater range of freedom in the New World. The sea here is almost in tune with the pirates, the odds are not in our favor. We'd have to worry more on training our Marines for surviving the sea itself, let alone the pirates roaming. Then there's the Yonko allies, we don't want a war, right? Committing our resources to this sea is a waste of time and money, catch the rookie pirates before they get here. _

_-Pet_

Pet gave her honest opinion and got the letter ready for delivery. She multitasks as she looks over the recruits' names and as if on cue, Lita brings in the letter, "It just arrived."

Pet peeks out from behind her monster pile of papers. She smiles at the letter, then hands Lita some documents needing to be sent off, including her answer to Sengoku. She's confident her word holds more weight than Akainu's in the matter of the New World, considering she's already spent months in the place whereas he's probably spent weeks, not enough to be as familiar with it as she is now. Lita carries the finished stack out while Pet cuts open the letter and cracks a smile at the letter asking her choice of pirate for a new Shichibukai. She wastes no time in asking for Kuma, then to help the matter, she calls up Vegapunk. He answers sleepily, "Hello?"

"What's this? I didn't think you were capable of sleep."

Vegapunk doesn't react to her statement, "Pet, it's late. What is it?"

"I need a favor."

"Can we talk in the morning when my energy and mind are all at full capacity?"

"No, now. I like you when you're not jumping off the walls."

"...Well, alright."

"I want you to push for Bartholomew Kuma as one of the Shichibukai. I like him and I want him as an ally. Could you do that, he may help with our little ethical problem. I'm sure the Navy won't mind if a pirate signs up as the number one test subject. How's that sound?" Pet makes herself feign complete calmness in her suggestion, but she can feel Vegapunk's inner turmoil at what he'd do to a human being, whether he's a pirate or not makes no difference.

Vegapunk is silent for many moments and Pet can hear the crickets in the background until, "Alright, I'll take my case up tomorrow. Is there any particular reason you're pushing this now?"

"All shall be explained in time, my friend."

"Uh huh, good night, love. Go to sleep."

Pet smiles, "Only when I'm dead."

**-gacha-**

Pet sits back and gets back to work. Lita comes in, in the morning, with coffee that Pet takes gratefully. Lita smiles at the finished stack of papers, "So you're finished?"

Pet shrugs, "Mostly. I'll probably get another stack by tonight, but I'm going to go nap." Pet stands and heads out, "Don't wake me unless it's an emergency."

Lita confirms with an, "Aye," at Pet's receding form.

* * *

There are no emergencies as Pet slumbers. She tackles each day with as much vigor as the next. She gets a string of Kaido's allies' ships in her range of fire and she doesn't hesitate to send them to the depths while arresting the pirates on board. She continually has to make trips to some distinct bases in the New World so she can hand them over for transportation to Enies Lobby and Impel Down. She's been at both places a few times, she didn't care for them while she was there. She prefers hanging out at Headquarters, to escorting pirates to their doom. She feels cruel, not especially because she's sending pirates to their doom, but because these are still human beings with feelings who deserve respect. They're not animals, the fucked up world tires her out sometimes.

Lita takes note of the deeper thinking Pet is capable of, she's continually trying to mimic her idol, but Pet isn't even on the scale anymore. Most of her talent and rank came to her because of her natural God given heritage, she's privileged. On the way to the outpost, Pet trains with her men and Lita, who specifically asked her to train with her. Pet merely shrugged and smiled, "As long as it gets me out of office work."

They were sparring and Lita continually attacked Pet with Pet easily dodging and deflecting, Pet can't take the offensive stand, otherwise she's afraid she'd cross a line. Lita understands and just the act of trying to match Pet is draining, she grows frustrated that she hasn't caught up in the slightest, then again, she doesn't even know Pet's full power. Pet finally allows one punch, the force Lolita put behind it doesn't even cause a movement in Pet's skin. Pet blinks at the girl, "I'm sorry, I'm no fun, huh."

Lita pulls her punch back with a frown, "What are you?"

Pet stands like Superman with her chest proudly puffed out, "A monster."

Pet smiles at Lita and gives her a consoling look, "Granted, it did take me years to get here..." _Although, I was way stronger than her at her own age._

_Quit giving hope to her when she can never amount. Give yourself some credit, Pet, she can't catch up._

_She can try?_

Pet lets the Marines get in a line, because they all want to give a go at their Admiral. Pet taps her chin, "Should I be flattered or offended that you all want to hit me?"

She complies and they connect their punches, but they do nothing to her. Pet slaps her cheeks as a way of testing them, "This surprises me as much as it does you." _Not really..._

After the last Marine puts his all into one punch, Pet frowns at them, "Sorry..." Pet's eyes flick to the wide expanse of sea, she tilts her head and a smile lightens her features, "Play mates on the horizon. Ya'll can show em what ya got. I'll hang back."

Pet does just that. It was quite unnerving, however, when she discovered that the enemy pirate ship is an ally with Kaido. She thinks she's pissed him off enough with taking out his growing army of zoan users. After the ship tried to tuck tail and run, Pet's ship gave chase and easily caught up with them whilst firing cannons. Pet was antsy to finish them, but she told her men she'd hold off. She sat cross legged in the middle of the ship leaning on her elbow with a bored expression. She sighs.

They finish and round up the new prisoners. Pet tires out and goes for a rest, they head to the island of Abrella where they can drop off their prisoners. They reach the place and Pet sees the transport ship off, from the dock. She heads back into the massive Division building where she sits in a room for hours on end talking with people and making plans while finishing paperwork. She doesn't mind it though, it makes it easier for her to forget about... what happened with... Point is, she's making herself busy and burying herself in her work. She finishes and goes for a stroll.

The quarter moon caresses her skin, it feels wonderful to Pet. She stands looking out to sea, with the cool ocean breeze and the moon as her companions, until she feels Lita's presence. Lita comes to stand by her. "Do you ever take that off? Aren't you technically not on duty?" She directs her criticism about Pet's Admiral jacket.

"You never know," Pet responds simply, "I've accumulated enough enemies in my lifetime to warrant never dropping my guard."

"I see," Lita frowns, "You disappeared for a few years, right? And everyone was searching for you?" Pet nods, Lita continues, "I heard you came back disturbed, like a psycho killer type..."

Pet laughs, "I've always had a psycho killer streak in me, some people just really know what buttons to push to bring that out. I had some issues with control when I came back, but that's why I left again, to get my control back. Now I've got it, and stronger than ever."

"How much stronger are you now, than before?"

Pet smirks, "Wouldn't you like to know."

Lita laughs, and Pet turns to her, a light smile gracing her features. Lita asks, "Why'd you join the Marines?"

Pet turns away, she gives no sign of distress, "The idea appealed to me," she lied.

"Same. I wanted to protect good people from the bad ones."

_Naive._

Pet grows tired, "I should be turning in, got more work in the morning."

Lita dips her head, "Sure, I'll ju-"

"Haha, found you..." Pet and Lita both frown at the newcomer. Pet narrows her eyes, _I smell pirate... and zoan type... is that a hint of snake?_ Pet dodges a jab easily and grabs Lita while she does it. The young woman isn't quick enough to deal with the lightning fast jabs of a snake striking. Pet slides across the walkway still facing the threat, Lita is held in her left arm. _How did I not sense him?_

_Do you really think it's so easy to sense a snake? Snakes tend to come out of nowhere and strike when you least expect._

_I see._

Pet maneuvers away from more strikes, the middle-aged man uses knives with jagged points. Those are his fangs in human form. Pet throws Lita as she grabs both the man's arms. She smiles at him, "Are you sure you were looking for an Admiral to pick a fight with?"

The man smirks, "Most definitely."

Pet's eyes dart to the side as Lita calls out to her, "Pet-san!"

Pet slides out of range when the man's neck elongates and fangs appear, she was distracted. His teeth rip across her shoulder, a flesh wound, but the venom is effective. Pet holds her shoulder while glaring at the stupid snake, "You asked for it, remember that." Pet gives herself a shake and appears behind the guy with the human body and long scaly neck protruding, _what a freak. _Pet takes hold of his neck and rips it off, much to her pleasant delight, as with most snakes, his five foot neck and head writhe on the ground. She laughs and buries her foot in his head. "What a chump." The snake man stills.

Pet turns to Lita with a smile that goes sour quickly, she sways and stumbles to catch herself against the stone rail. She hears Lita calling for her and when her eyes find her underling, she sees more Zoan users appear. _Ah fuck._

Garbled words enter her mind, yet she deciphers, "He did his job, now let's do ours."

Lita is struck down and Pet grows angry, she's so angry, she's dead beat tired. She falls flat on her face, after her muscles could no longer steady her. It's an unexpected and detested slumber, Pet is kept within the recesses of her mind, in complete darkness until she finally has strength to seek light. Her eyes are granted with a homely sight, there are such nice furnishings in her little cell, not. Pet nods at her kairoseki bound wrists. She feels the tiredness, but has the ability to ignore it and allow her body to act purely on instinct, moving when the mind doesn't have the power to order the action.

She doesn't get much of a view with solid walls surrounding her, the air is blood scented. She actually doesn't mind it, she's been the cause of many unpleasant smells, considering her activities in massacring people and the like.

After, she discerns none are near, they probably think they have her right where they want her, but Pet's inner flame craves things, such as people, to burn and consume. She hasn't had a soothing bloodbath in a long time, how could she pass this opportunity up? She waits for any to show up, as she waits, she begins to whistle a creepy tune, just for kicks.

She presumes lackeys are her greeters for the host, they sneer at her until her eyes meet theirs and silence takes hold of their tongues. Kairoseki doesn't keep her Conqueror's Haki in check, and her will is a powerful one. They open the cage and Pet walks calmly out to meet whoever invited her to the opening of a new Slaughterhouse.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **So as I said, I'm going to be extremely busy these next few weeks, so we'll see about the weekly updates. Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, to those who review, ya'll are too kind. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D Have a nice day!


	18. Arousing Suspicion

**Author's Note:** Sorry, I've been studying and stuff for tests. They're still going on, so don't expect updates to be consistent. Another shorter chapter. It should pick up soon, I just have like two-three things I want to clear up before beginning the end of the story, could take twenty chapters to clear them up for all I know, so no worries, we still have a ways to go. I have another story in the works, a different OC as the main. So I'll let you guys know when that one is out, so ya'll can check it out.

Characters included: **Kaido, Magellan, Vegapunk, Aokiji, Sengoku, Akainu, Kizaru**

* * *

Chapter 17

Pet frowned when she entered the arena, she held dignity despite the chains clinking in front of her. She barked laughter in seeing the face on the screen, the great Kaido, the one and only. Pet sneers, "Of course, you wouldn't be here to face me like a real beast. Coward."

Pet's face is buried in rubble as one of his lackeys slams her by her head, it doesn't faze her in the slightest. She allows herself to be pulled up, then cracks her neck and looks up at the man of the hour. Kaido wears a serious expression, "I didn't think you would be cocky, as well, to even think to face _**me**_." Pet sighs on the emphasis he puts on "me." He continues, "Don't think just because you could stand up to Red Hair that you could take me on as well. We're on completely different levels."

Pet turns to the guy next to her, "Did he just call me the cocky one?" She smiles and nudges the guy so he has to catch himself, "Lighten up." Pet's eyes find Kaido on the big screen, "To what do I owe this pleasure? What's with the screen?"

Kaido laughs, "I've taken it upon myself and my crew to eliminate you for the benefit of pirates everywhere, who roam the seas. The screen is so they can feast their eyes on your death, at least, those part of the underground circle can. You're a thorn in everyone's side."

Pet searches and discovers the den den mushi broadcasting to all the brokers of the New World, _so there is an underground ring, huh. At least I've got some intel to show for this incident, they can't be too upset with me for killing everyone if something good came out of it, right? _"Thanks for the information, I'll be sure to look into this circle when I finish tidying up the place." The men standing at her sides falter as she pops her shoulders, as if with every crack a number is counted down.

Kaido growls, "Quit fooling yourself, you won't make it out of here alive. Some of my best are there, along with an army. You can do nothing with kairoseki."

Pet smirks as her eyes flash red, "Correction, you assume I can't. Sure, I probably won't make it out without a few scratches, but I'll get out, then I'll come for you, because all these pirates here are nothing, face it, Kaido, I'm a player in the big leagues with you, Big Mom, Whitebeard, and Shanks. I guess I'll have to prove it by clearing out the room." Armament Haki hardens Pet's arms and she breaks the chains holding her with ease. Both her captors are finished with a kick and stab through their hearts. She stands and looks into the den den mushi, "Beware little pirates. There's a new player in town and I ain't going anywhere." She dodges the oncoming foes leisurely, still in place and staring into the eyes of the Mushi, thereby the hearts and souls of those watching. She laughs, "I've decided I really like the New World, just when I was wishing someone would please attack me, it happens, and now I'm justified in killing every single one who opposes me, you know why? Because you're pirates." The people attacking her are blown away with many cuts across them. Blood rains down and Pet tears her attention to savoring every last drop.

The so-called army attacks, but Pet holds back in showing her true power, she doesn't want to give anyone a chance to gauge her strength and work to meet it. She'd rather keep them on the edge of their seats. Simple maneuvers here and there, add some slicing and dicing, and wah la! We have a massacre. She laughs as many come to meet her in battle, it's one sided though, and she has yet to receive a wound. This army is disorganized, as animals come growling with claws extended. Man-beast form Zoans attack her, but she's just too quick.

Pet's image is appearing and reappearing in different spots of the arena while foes all fall to her claws. She wonders where her blades went... Oh right, she left them in her room back on Abrella. _Am I still on Abrella? Is Shanks watching this?... but that would mean..._

_If he is, it's not because he's part of the underground, he's too much of an upstanding citizen, ya know, despite being a pirate._

_Yeah, I don't get that vibe off him either._

Pet dodges a strike from another snake. With a show of willpower, Pet takes out all the fodder. Left standing are the top tiers of Kaido's section of army. Surprisingly they're all reptiles, "I'm sensing a theme with you guys." Pet enters combat mode, the fight isn't cake but she does better. It's only when she's twisting in the air, evading a stab from the bottom and top, that a third attacker grabs her by her neck and slams her into the rubble. Taking the opportunity, the five left pounce. Pet escapes, but not without a good stab to her abdomen.

She frowns at the blood pouring down her stomach from the wound, _Guess I better call them._

Pet shifts into her massive wolf form and she growls at those advancing. They all shift into their respective animals but before they reach her, Pet lets forth a reverberating howl that not only carries great waves of sound but also pushes those on the offensive back. Her voice dies down and she shakes out her fur, she stands tall as the pirates recover and make way. They stop, however, because Marines rush in through the entry points and land from above her at her sides.

Pet shifts back, "As if I'd ever get caught unintentionally again." Pet shakes her head and chuckles, "Losers." Pet directs her attention to her reinforcements, "Round up the pirates, people, they'll make fine additions to Impel Down."

The five pirates still standing don't seem willing to stand down, Pet motions the Vice-Admiral, Rear-Admiral, and Captains to engage them. They're fresh in the fight so it doesn't take long to subdue them, as the outranked Marines arrest those already defeated.

Pet goes to stand in front of the den den mushi, her eyes retain their reddish glow, "Keep testing me, Pirates. I'm always ready." She moves forth to disconnect, while she does, she adds, "And thank you Kaido for alerting me to the underground world in the New World. I'll be sure to be on the lookout for underhanded dealings now. This was a great learning experience for me." The snail disconnects and the fights end.

Pet frowns as Lita comes up slightly battered, she was one of the Captains Pet sent to take on the top branch. Lita smiles, "Guess I'm not up to full from last night, huh."

"You shouldn't have joined me. They would've came and took me with little problem."

"Yeah, but if you were on your own, you'd have had nothing to deter you. My being there made the capture look believable, as if I hindered you into losing."

"True, it was still unnecessary danger. And look at you, you need to rest."

Lita shrugs and smiles, "You've had worst. Plus, I wanted see their faces when they saw that you let yourself be caught."

Pet smirks, "Fools think it's so easy to capture an Admiral. I can't be held down anymore."

Lita admires Pet, with her sparkling eyes. The two oversee the shipment of the pirates, they stand side by side on the dock watching their departure. "This is a massive blow to Kaido's army. We'll have to see who dares challenge me after that little show."

"Are you sure Kaido won't try to take back his men?"

"I'm very sure. He'll think I'm there, he's a coward, also he doesn't like people unfit to serve him."

"We should still escort them."

Pet rolls her eyes, "But I don't like Impel Down!"

Lita frowns at her Admiral, Pet concedes and they set sail beside the sister ship.

* * *

Thankfully, they reach Impel Down with zero resistance. Pet was mumbling and poking Lita, "See... We didn't have to come."

Lita waved her Admiral away, Pet merely walked into the building from the dock as the prisoners were being unloaded. Magellan is still a bit of a newbie. Pet smiles politely at the mountain man, after sneakily crinkling her nose at his stench, "Magellan, been a long time."

"Good thing too." Pet's brow twitches. Magellan continues, "How's the New World working out for you? You keep sending pirates and we'll run out of space eventually."

Pet waves her hand dismissively, "Just doing my job. I doubt I can take out those at the top, but I can definitely weaken them by taking out their supports."

Magellan continues frowning at her. Pet watches him, "Ssoooo..."

The rest of the stay is very awkward, Pet takes a deep breath when they're on their way back to the New World, good ole fresh air that isn't laced with a certain poison man's refuse. "That guy doesn't like me very much."

Lita rolls her eyes, "I can't imagine why."

Pet scrunches her face at her younger, "Is that sarcasm, brat?"

Lita smiles and walks away. Pet sighs and follows. She frowns suddenly and stops. Lita looks at her Admiral, "Pet?" Pet's hands waver over the snake bite, her face completely serious and pensive. "Pet-san, is there a problem?"

Pet falls on her front, the Marines crowd around her, the medics rush in. They carry her into the bay and get to running tests. She takes heavy breaths now, with desperate wheezes.

Lita demands, concern coloring her voice, "What's wrong with her!"

"We think she's been poisoned." "We don't know what poison!" "She has to tell us."

Pet's eyes burst open, she smiles, "That bastard poisoned me... well, indirectly." Pet tells them, "First there was the snake bite, but now Magellan being so corrosive to my health made a bad reaction. Guess who's dying!?" Pet laughs, Lita slaps her out of it, "I was just kidding! As if this could kill me, it'll just take a while for the reaction to wear out. I'll be fine." Pet smiles, sweat glides down her brow.

Lita calms slightly, "Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure. I'm a doctor."

Lita frowns, "What kind of doctor are you?"

"The very good kind."

The young Marine sucks in a breath, "Very well, I'll believe you. What are your orders, Pet-san?"

Pet's chest rises and falls, "Let's get to the New World, we wouldn't want word to get out that we stepped out for a bit due to... circumstances. We must maintain a strong look. This little episode should pass in a few days."

The medics frown at their superior, Lita merely nods and walks out to convey Pet's wishes while also assure the others that she's fine. Pet kicks back and makes herself smile, the medics only tend to her in keeping the fever down, and for the first time in a great many years, since before Pet received her Devil Fruit powers, she's cold. She naps buried in blankets and stirs occasionally to the sounds of cannon fire.

She continues resting. It's only when a direct hit on her ship does she burst out of bed, her appearance completely ruffled, she bangs the door to the deck open and turns her murderous glare on the attacking pirates. Her eyes meet those charcoal ones, "Do you want me to kill all of you! I'm trying to sleep! God dammit!"

The red-head stares at her, "Just sent a greeting. You made quite a stir in the underground."

Pet loosens, she leans against the door frame, "Why do you know about that?"

The Yonko shrugs, "Just caught some whispers here and there from people who are involved."

"Mind telling me their names?"

He laughs, "Yes. I do mind."

Pet draws her swords, "Let's pick up where we left off then, shall we?"

Shanks frowns, "I-I guess."

Pet steps in and Shanks easily stops her blade, too easy. He continues frowning at her, her face and clothes are damp from the effects of poison and her body working to fight it off. He can tell something is up.

Pet lands back with a slight stagger. Shanks moves forward slightly, he can't go around showing concern for his enemy. Pet holds her katana at the ready, they catch the sunlight majestically. Shanks places his hand on his sword hilt. Lita steps forward, in front of Pet. Her own sword is drawn, "Pet-san, I can't allow you to fight him by yourself this time..."

Pet breathes, Shanks raises a brow, Lita continues, "You're not at full yet."

Pet frowns and defiantly utters, "Don't tell him that!" Lita eyes Shanks, she notices his eyes fall on Pet, however.

Shanks smirks, "Well, well. I can't challenge someone at a disadvantage. My honor would be at stake." Shanks turns as Pet calls after him.

"You? Honor? You're a pirate! Pirates don't have the right to honor."

Shanks stops in his tracks, Pet sheathes her swords, Lita holds her position for fear of Shanks and his crew changing their mind. Pet turns away and walks back inside. She's dismissed the threat Shanks won't pose. Shanks and his crew leave. Once alone, Pet leans on the wall clutching her hand to her heart, _Why do I have to keep pushing him away? I really just wanted to go snuggle up with him, invite him in..._

* * *

Shanks sits at a table in the dining hall of his ship, brooding. Beckman seats himself across from his Captain. "Captain, you gotta let her go."

His face drops into his hands, "I'm happy she's okay. That was some storm. Now I can't even help her with this."

Benn smiles consolingly, "She's not somebody you should concern yourself with, she's a Marine, an Admiral even. Pirates and Marines don't tend to get along very well."

Shanks frowns at his second, "She's barely a Marine. You've met her, you know, there's something different about her."

"I have, and I can tell she's smarter than she looks and she has a lot on her plate, otherwise she'd be all yours. Patience, my friend."

Shanks sighs and nods, "Aye."

Shanks doesn't hold his serious air for long and things go back to normal since the incident. Except that their newbie pirate wanted to learn more about her savior and didn't get to meet the Admiral.

* * *

Pet wakes up the next day, completely refreshed...almost... She cracks every bone in her body, pretty much, then she fixes herself. The effects of the clashing poisons officially over after meditating in the night, with the moonlight bathing her. She bursts out on deck with a flourish, and boisterously takes on the new day. Every sign of distress was washed away during her morning shower.

She spends the next few months with the same attitude and no more appearances from Shanks. She had a tiny little run-in with more of Kaido's men, retaliating, but he has yet to seek her out himself. Digging deeper into the underground dealings of pirates, Pet follows the trails of the mystery bosses. She catches up with a few and arrests them, jeopardizing everything for them. She passes the information of underhanded Marines in the New World to the Revolutionaries to do with as they will. The evidence is invisible when it comes to bringing up a case against them. Soon enough, after a full year has gone by, she's fixed the New World so that she can leave it and tend to other matters.

Occasionally, she'll meet up with Sabo and his team to chat with them. She enjoys their company, at first the two were suspicious of her, but Sabo's trust in Pet swayed them. Every now and again Pet shares information with Daiki and Dragon, as they ask things of her and she deals things for them. No body ever suspects a thing.

Finally, she stops spending so much time in the New World and gets to work in all the seas. Of course, HQ thinks it a bad idea to allow her to leave the unforgiving sea, almost like they assume her as its tamer. She assures them, "I've done all I can in regards to preparing Marines for the difficulties and setting up some better division buildings and maintaining them. The men here are as capable as ever to watch the place while I'm gone. Plus... I'm bored! I want to explore the other parts and kick bad guy butt!"

They allow her to leave the sea and she gets to patrol the other places of the Grand Line and take out pirates with the destination of New World. Pet goes alone, she leaves Lita and her crew to the monster sea. They're more than able to handle themselves without her. They've proven it time and time again. Although they were sad at her departure, they were proud to have earned her respect and trust to stay in her place. They also scolded her for her selfish reasons in leaving out of boredom. The second half of the Grand Line just didn't do it for her anymore, not that it wasn't difficult, just that she explored so much of it that she wanted to meet other islands and people.

Pet uses her glider as her mode of transportation. She heads to HQ first, to report in and get some information, a list of things for her to do. She arrived at HQ within a few hours time, and she promptly went in search of her best buddy. Pet smiles as she finds herself in the underground lair... It's all dark with bursts of light shining on the massive open space. The laughter reaches her ears, causing her smile to grow. "Oi! Vegapunk!" She calls out. The laughter is cut off and a hacking cough takes its place.

Vegapunk runs up to her out of nowhere and tackles her in a wide hug. She hugs back, he cries, "I thought you were never coming back! Thought you'd stay in those dangerous waters forever!" He pulls away and inspects her up and down, "Are you tanner? Stronger, maybe? Ah, who cares!? You're back! For how long? Are you just visiting?"

Pet shakes her head, "Yeah, I've been reassigned, I'll probably be around more frequently though."

"Oh, good. Very good. Oh! You owe me an explanation!"

Pet frowns and the reason is remembered when Bartholomew Kuma steps up, the guy has his dark navy blue over jacket and grayish pants, all have dot patterns on them, his shirt appears to have paws along with a white design on his front. She holds her tongue at his grayish hat with bear ears, a mere breath is released, almost a snort. Them glasses and that curly hair don't escape her inspection, either. She smiles and nods at him, "Kuma. I'm glad to hear you were chosen."

The usually silent Kuma drones, "Only because I had people backing the decision."

Pet turns to Vegapunk, he turns back to her, "I met Kuma when he was pirating and decided I liked the guy. He expressed his wish to be a Shichibukai so I told him I'd see what I could do."

Vegapunk smiles, "Okay! Well, I like Kuma too..." He quiets. Pet squeezes his arm lightly. Her friend reboots, "We have accomplished a lot with this guy as the test subject. He's very durable and the project is coming along well. I'm uh glad, that we were able to find someone." The poor man stalks off, the two watch him go.

Pet sighs, "How are things really, Kuma? He's told you the risks and what might happen, I don't want your friends to come up to me asking me what happened one day."

Kuma monotonously responds, "Everything is as expected."

Pet nods and yells as she walks out, "I'll try to visit again before I leave, Vegapunk!" She gets out and heads to Sengoku, she exchanges cordial words with Garp before receiving some orders to carry out.

As she's getting ready, a friend stops by, she smiles at the scent, "Kuzan, how're you doing?"

"Wondering if you were going to visit me, but figured you wouldn't. I came."

Pet finishes her pack and places a strap over her shoulder, "I see that." She walks up to him and they embrace for a moment, "Are you doing well on your missions?"

"Eh, I've completed them, but I didn't want to. Seems like you're the poster child for the Admirals now though. Thanks for that, less work for me."

Pet laughs, "Don't mention it. I've got a whole list of things they want me to take care of here. Both the Gorosei and Sengoku have different things they want me to do, making an even bigger list. I'm happy to explore the Grand Line now though, I never really explored it fully, and I get to do it alone too!"

Aokiji smiles lightly, "We all know how much you love your alone time. Akainu seems pretty angry about your words on the New World and our movement there. I think you were right."

"Of course I was right..." Pet smiles and the two saunter down the hallways of Headquarters, idly chatting and catching up. As Pet begins the parting words because she wants a word with Vegapunk, "I should be seeing more of you now, right? Being on the Grand Line and all."

Aokiji nods and they say their goodbyes. Pet spends a good few minutes with Vegapunk before departing on her adventure.

* * *

In the following months, Pet stops an assassination, delivers some important top secret documents while also recruiting people for Vegapunk's experiments, liberates a kingdom, decimates a different island, all while arresting various pirates along the way.

She earns countless medals and rewards, her pay is stacked and she surprisingly makes different friends across the Grand Line. She barely spends any time in the four seas as they have her mostly running errands. She'll occasionally go to the New World to care for things there with her crew and check up on things, since that's her district. Infrequently, she'll go on missions with Aokiji and Kizaru, anytime Akainu is assigned to something she is vehement in declining the mission. The other Admirals have to deal with him.

As the two are on equal par now, they're more prone to riling each other up with Aokiji and Kizaru separating them. Only once did Pet have the chance to lash out. None were around and Akainu happened to walk into the training room as she was cleaning up. She had previously given a lesson to the recruits. Pet decided to ignore the hothead, although her hair was pricking up along her spine. She heard Akainu acknowledge her presence before he smirked and walked over to her, "Did you hear the news, Pet?"

Pet closes her eyes before facing him, her extremely fake smile is plastered on her face, "What news are you speaking of?"

He pulls out a Wanted Poster and shows her the picture of her younger brother. _Ace! _She grabs the poster and smiles at his pose. Akainu smirks, "You seem happy? He's a disappointment to your family. He'll have to be executed, why are you smiling?"

Pet's eyes flash red, she hands the poster back, "I'd never turn on my family, no matter their choice of occupation."

Akainu smiles while raising a brow, "I'll keep that in mind when I kill him."

Pet growls, "You won't get the chance."

Akainu frowns, "What are you implying? That'd you'd protect a pirate?"

Pet's conflicted, she frowns, "Get out of my face, little dog. Some of us actually have lists of things they must get done, deadlines, probably because they trust me with more than you. Have you noticed? Every one acknowledges I'm the better Admiral than you." A low blow, but it accomplished everything.

The older throws the first punch, Pet smirks as the blow connects to her stomach, she's pushed back...barely. She lets out a laugh, then brings her leg up up to kick Akainu in the side while twisting her body. The full force of the blow causes him to take flight, although Pet stomps on his stomach so as not to damage any walls. The clashing Admirals' power results in the massive energy cracking the walls surrounding them. Pet's stomp was thoughtfully made to prevent this, however, it created it instead. She growls as she takes her foot away from Akainu's buried body. "I'm sorry, Akainu-**_san_**, were you trying to prove something just now?" Pet mocks him by adding the -san. He picks himself up from the rubble with a bellow of anger. His fist covered in magma, Pet dodges and slides back while drawing her swords. The walls surrounding seem to pulse, in turn, Pet's eyes glow bright red. _How dare he think I won't protect my family. I will protect them to the end! I will show him how far I will go, right here, right now!_

_Pet... he's right, though... you'd endanger your job._

_Grr, maybe you're not remembering correctly Daray. The deal is that they lay off my family, because I never specified and neither did they, what family means, that means if I say Ace is my family. They can't fucking touch him!_

_They might not agree with that point of view._

_It's not a fucking point of view, it's a fact, a deduction, a law, a certainty. Not someone's opinion._

Pet and Akainu circle each other with matching looks of anger and hatred. Pet growls demonically, "Don't test me, old man."

Akainu's brows narrow, he goes in for another blow. Pet meets his pace as she prepares to send a slash his way. Just as they're about to connect, Aokiji and Kizaru have appeared grabbing each of them and breaking them up. Aokiji flung Pet away but she easily caught herself and bypassed him. He had to rush to tackle her as she got a slash in the air. The other two dispersed to avoid getting hit, while Akainu connected his Magma Fist to Pet's face on the ground. The floor broke as a shock wave of power erupted across its surface. Pet rose on her arms and spun so she kicked her attacker away. She pushed off and landed crouching, she wiped the blood running down her face with the back of her hand. She turned back to the red dog with a snarl.

"Oi, Oi! Knock it off you two!"

"Pet's scary!"

Kizaru and Aokiji stood back to back outwardly facing their two fired up companions. "I've had enough of him!" Pet's face bleeds where her skin broke from the crackling caused by massive amounts of heat. Akainu doesn't fare so well either, he pants and blood flows down his chin from the internal damage Pet did with her kicks.

Akainu smiles and releases his fighting stance, Pet retains hers. "I'll be sure to give every detail of our discussion to Sengoku."

"Yeah, well you fucking started it, pup. Don't even deny it." Pet cracks her neck as she sheathes her katana before lowering her arms. She walks briskly out of the room, "You won't win this fight Akainu."

"We'll see about that."

The three watch Pet go. A messenger runs up to her from behind. "Pet-san!"

Pet turns with a scowl, she's a frightening image with her bleeding face. Poor messenger, if looks could kill. The man is frozen to the spot at the sight of her, she growls, "What?"

"S-S-Sengoku w-would l-like t-t-to s-speak w-with y-y-y-you..." Pet frowns at the droplets running down this man, she can smell his fear, it reeks.

"Very well."

She glides to the Fleet Admiral's office. He starts at the sight of her, "So the reports were true. You and Akainu had a row."

"He pissed me off." Pet wipes at her chin again, her shirt is already stained.

"Have you seen someone?"

"No, it'll be fine, as if that man could scar me."

Sengoku frowns from behind his desk, "You two can't keep this up Pet. It looks bad on the Navy. What'd you guys fight about anyways."

"Ace. He's my brother, and no matter what," Pet's eyes burn into her superior's, the threat is clear, "I will never turn on my family, Sengoku-san."

"You understood what it meant in becoming a Marine. You have no ri-"

Pet cuts him off, "Don't assume you know the conditions of my recruitment. I didn't become a Marine because of choice. I did it, because of family. Ace is my family. Understand?" Sengoku frowns, he holds his peace.

"You needed something?"

The buddha mutters, "Some more field work for you to do."

Pet nods and grabs the documents and leaves. Vegapunk sees to her, he grabs his heart at the sight of her, "Oh, my! Pet, what happened?"

"That magma bastard got on my nerves."

"Oh, that guy huh. Did he cry?"

"Unfortunately no." Vegapunk dabs at Pet's face. He applies the bandages and Pet hops off the table to leave, taking her new prescription as she goes. Vegapunk sighs at her departure.

* * *

The following months calm down, or so Pet thinks. There's whispering about her now, none that she can hear, but there. Akainu was sure to inform Sengoku of Pet's feelings. In turn, Sengoku passed on the message to the Gorosei. The Gorosei had varying degrees of anger depending on the person. They came to the same conclusion that they must be wary of Pet's actions and role in their plans for the future. They didn't care for Pet's regarding Ace as family. So no specifications were made? Ace wasn't part of the agreement initially. Neither was Luffy. Both boys would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, with, or without Pet's consent. A general understanding was reached that Pet was a vital part of the Marine's structure, a valued asset, one which they couldn't lose. The brainstorming on getting Pet to follow them began, decisions were to be made behind her back, precautions.

* * *

**Author's End Note:** Alright, let me know what you guys think. Review, Follow, Favorite. Ya'll know the drill. Thanks for all the attention and stuff, I'll try to work on the next chapter, but don't expect it on time, because I have a whole bunch of tests to take these next two weeks. Sorry, and that new story will be coming out soon. I have the first chapter done, my friend is looking it over though and helping me with it. :D Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	19. Her New Father

**Author's Note: **So I tried something new, cause I got really bored and wanted to, just for fuck's sake. Let me know what you guys think about this new format of beginning with action and developing with flashbacks. A shorter chapter, sorry, I just had so many tests and exams this week and still I have finals. I'll divert more attention to this story during summer.

Characters: **Sengoku, Portgas D. Ace, Whitebeard, Marco, Gol D. Roger**

The other commanders of Whitebeard's crew are mentioned.

**News: **That other story, I've decided to name it, "The Vixen's Incidents of Debauchery" So far I've written like three chapters, just waiting for my beta reader to look them over, she's busy too. Every chapter, so far, has a lemon. Check it out if you're cool with that. :D I'll try to think of the summary for it so I can get it to you guys :)

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 18

Breath billowed out of both powerhouses, their red eyes clashing. Hell-fire seems to flare about them, pulsing with every clang of metal. Pet's whole body is drenched in sweat from the heat, the beast does not seem to be letting up or slowing down. _So this is a demon, huh. _

Before her stands a black humanoid creature with talons for fingers, that cut and leave searing burn marks to spread across her skin, leaving a blackened color. It's her lucky day, however, as the moon washes their battlefield in its pale glow. Great black bat wings protrude from its back and they too try to sully Pet's skin in her own blood. In the beginning, she may have been smiling, but now, her concentration is set on making it out alive. The creature cackles through its fangs, a snake's tongue does not go unnoticed by Pet. She narrows her eyes, "I didn't really believe it when they told me you had this power."

_"How bad could it be? I can handle anything!" Pet laughs confidently with her hands on her hips._

_Sengoku rubs his face in exasperation, "Pet! Do not underestimate them!"_

_"Yeah, yeah whatever. I'll be fine." Pet looks over the posters and the reports with a frown. The killings and the sightings, the towns burnt down. The people left massacred. _

The breath of hell escapes its lips, "Everything has an origin. This time, the myth was rooted in fact."

Pet and the creature circle each other, its muscles ripple as it walks, a mere loincloth covers its extremities. "No wonder they sent me..." The raising of a brow prompts Pet to continue, "Haven't you heard? After all, you are facing the famed 'Demon Wolf'." She emphasizes demon with a smirk.

The hell-spawn lets loose a deep laugh, "Except I am the real demon here."

Pet rolls her eyes, "We'll see about that."

The two collide and the flames burst into pillars around them. Pet cuts the thing in her massive reserve of speed, before it stomps her to the ground as she chokes blood. It buries its claws in her stomach and a look of pain passes over her features, she regains her control, _So that's what that feels like._ She bypasses his foot holding her down and pushes off on her arms, using both hers to give a good uppercut to its chin. It goes flying into the air and Pet recovers quickly enough to run circles about it while dealing cuts across its tough skin. She stops and time seems to right itself as it lands with a thud on the dirt. Blood drips from both their wounds.

Pet rests on her knees, both katana still held in her hands. She pants and much to her dislike, she saw it coming anyways, the thing rises and growls at her. She sends a smooch with a wink, "Bring it on." She stands with a deep intake of air, _I really hate this situation._

_Let me have a go._

_I got this._

Both are tired from the long fight, Pet arrived and found her foe easily, the government sensed a major threat if he was to roam freely. Some Marines had found word of his climb to power, the guy wanted to make a crew of Mythical Zoan types. So far, Pet had dealt with the cyclops, drac, and golem. She was extremely tired and she still had a ways to go.

Finally, the two leave their ceasefire and begin exchanging attacks with a fury. Pet had never known that the Mythical Zoans could range from so many creatures, and it made sense to her that the Captain of this pirate crew was a Demon. In his human form, Pet found his looks striking, yet appealing. She appreciated his features, pleasant to look at. Pet takes another punch to the chin but as she's flying, she puts effort into a massive kick. The demon's skin ripples from the force as it's pushed away some. Blood drips from its own mouth and Pet lands before rolling to a stand once more and jumps back closer into the center of their square, the fire burns. "Can you just give up already? You're not going to win!"

"I think you're more tired than I am." _He has a point. I've already had to deal with all the specialties of those others. What a persistent bunch._

Pet sighs as she sheathes her katana, "Only because I'm holding back..." _You better not. I can have a go!_

_Sorry, Daray, then you'll get tired after enough. We still have a whole crew to take care of and arrest..._

_Haha, you said arrest! As if that's your initial intention! You heard what the Gorosei said, they made it clear that you must eradicate them._

_True, but... I don't know, I want to arrest any if I can, but they're all just so dangerous._ The gnarly face frowns at her, she continues as the moon seems to be absorbed within her, she's almost glowing as if she is the moon itself, "Kiken Ryker, it gives me no great pleasure, but after experiencing your fighting capabilities, I determine you to be an Alpha level threat to the Navy and the citizens of this land. By rule 1020, I invoke the right to sentence you to execution. Right here and right now. With me, Admiral Pet, as your witness. Do you have any last words?" The fire is extinguished as Pet dips into her true power, the moonlight has characterized her by her red-blue-yellow glowing eyes, her pupils and her hair shimmer white. She blinks at Ryker with an air that says, "You may be the demon, but I am the Archangel sent to destroy you."

Ryker frowns, before chuckling, "As if you could beat me so easily. Execution!? Keep dreaming! All you did was change your hair and eye color! You're still as worn out as I am." Ryker smiles as he moves to approach Pet. She regards him with a small frown, he hasn't noticed all her wounds have disappeared, her fatigue is gone, her power is at its peak, past its peak.

She sighs as Ryker seems to burst at her in slow motion, she's beside him suddenly, as he looks to her with a look of utter shock, "So be it." Her fangs seem to grow longer and sharper, her claws glow as they extend and sharpen as well, all appear as if made of pure moonlight. Her breath is icy cool as she gracefully tears his wings from his back. He lets a guttural shriek of agony, not even the blood can sully her light. Now that her canvas has been cleared, she whispers, "Forgive me." Then stabs through his skin as if slicing butter. She hops back as he falls lifeless to the floor shifting back to his human form. _I wish killing people wasn't so easy in this form._

Pet stands above him with a look of sorrow, "It seemed it was your unluckiest of all days to pick a fight with me." Her glowing pale eyes find the moon. _None can defeat me when in this form, my true form... well, not my true form. _She walks beside him, he lay on his front as blood trickles from his mouth and his breath grows fainter. She crouches by him and stares at his fading life with pity, she strokes his cheek and his breath hitches, overwhelming peace floods him, "To make up for the horrible death I've granted you, I give you peace in your death. I'm sorry, you did something so great and unheard of before. I commend you for your effort." He's gone already, "You could've been so respectable."

_You know the consequences for going into this... what was it you called it?_

_White Guardian Mode..._

_And the other one?_

_Velvela Luna Mode..._

_Seems you might, after all, have to use that mode._

She has stood and calmly watches the rest of his crew come onto the vast expanse of land they were using as a battlefield. She hears a woman scream at the sight of him, he wears pants but he's shirtless. The only dirty part of Pet's job was tearing his wings off him, they became ash after they left his body. Otherwise, the cut was a clean one, a poetic method of death. The woman touches his back, as he lies on his stomach, "He can't be! We were going to be the strongest pirate crew to ever sail these seas! None had ever thought to make a crew of the Mythicals, just because they're so rare. Look at us!"

Pet's eyes ghost over those across the body from her, she has to admit, _it must've been hard to find so many. He knew they'd be something to fear, but Ace, and soon Luffy, will sail these waters. I can't let such a threat go unchecked._ Pet's voice is soft and melodic, "I'm willing to spare your lives this time, but if you ever get too powerful. I will come and end you." She decides to show mercy. The woman turns her face to Pet with a sneer, her features were carved by a knife labelled hatred. "We're already powerful. We will avenge him!"

Pet blinks at her, "I'm afraid not. If you issue a threat, be ready for a fight."

The woman stands smiling at her, "The threat has been issued, Marine."

Pet nods, from the woman's perception she pulls out knives from her sleeves and her hair forms into snakes as she goes to strike Pet all with the speed of a fired bullet. Pet got in a few rapid blinks in watching the woman come to her, she retaliates by her blade-like claws diving into the woman's chest. The woman's arms fall and her snakes shift back into hair blowing in the hot wind. She grabs onto Pet as the Admiral supports her. Her claws retract and meets the woman's fading gaze, she hears the woman's inner thoughts from their touching, _"You're beautiful. Your eyes and hair. Very pretty... like the moon."_

Pet lays the woman down beside her beloved as she answers, _"Thank you."_

She grabs the fist of another attacker, finally she orders, "Leave now, or I will decimate you all." The guy's hand which she holds shakes in her grip. She lets him fall back and scurry to the others, five remain.

They run and she calls after them, "Next time I will not be so forgiving!"

_You were wrong Daray. I didn't have to use that mode._

_I hope you never do, Pet._

She walks away to find her board, that got her to the place. On the way there, she drops the mode and in doing so unleashes the consequences. She takes a knee as all her strength drains from her, her wounds manifest and she coughs out blood. The wounds' impact are heightened, so even more blood than before trails down her clothes. Her eyes seem to go black, where as before, everything was clear and bright despite the blackness filling the air. She's on a fiery magma island in the New World. She falls to her side as she gets lightheaded from the blood streaming down her own body. She seems to fight for breath with every inhale and her consciousness slips to the world between gone and present. The grass is barely felt around her as her head rests on Daray's knee, in her mind. The moment of weakness will pass, as it always does.

Her eyes stare lifelessly into the abyss, but she stirs slightly when a young male voice pierces the depths of her mind. Coughs rack her body as she blinks herself to reality. A strong arm supports her head and her tunnel vision allows her the pleasure of witnessing her younger brother's worried look. His features give off a frantic vibe, but mere whispers disturb her senses. A smile from her gives him the sight of a bloody mouth. She utters, "A-ace. L-long time n-no s-see." He shakes her slightly, _Baka. _Her head falls to the side and what she sees hitches her breath. Ace frowns at the newcomer.

"Looking for a fight?"

The hell-hound snarls and paws the ground. Pet blinks at the fire beneath the skull of iron, it blowtorches out and has jagged spikes of metal extending to its paws and claws as well. Ace sets her down but she keeps her eye on the demon-spawn. Ace's body seems to turn to flames and Pet admires them. _He's grown so much. I almost didn't believe it when I saw him._ Ace moves to take on the demon dog, thinking it can't hurt him, until its shield for a face rams into him with bone crushing strength. Droplets of blood are forced from his body and the sight of them sets Pet's blood on fire, boiling hotter than hell-fire. Ace holds his stomach while stepping back, blood dripping down his chin.

He looks towards Pet when a growl reverberates around her. He smiles through the pain, a giant scarred and black wolf growls at the hound. Her white teeth glisten and saliva drips from her jowls, she's craving vengeance. She and the hound charge at each other, she grabs onto its face and jumps back in surprise. _How can a devil fruit user have kairoseki for armor!?_

She shakes her mighty head and dodges another charge. _Is that all this idiot can do?_ She grins as she howls at it, the force pushes it back and back and back, until it lands with a plop in the ocean. She watches the water for signs of a person or the beast itself. No such luck, the dog is dead. Her victory is short lived as she changes back without thought, landing on her stomach. _Fucking Mythical Zoan's suck. I'm going to make it my mission to eradicate anyone with one._

_They sure are troublesome, aren't they?_

Ace is asking, "Nee-chan! Are you okay!?"

_People seem to ask me that a lot. Do I look fucking okay, does this blood and the whole collapsing not give any clues?! What a shitty world._

Pet's eyes lock onto Ace, she breaths, "I'm not going to state the obvious."

Ace smiles as he sits, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He sees the exhaustion marring her features.

"I had to make sure it was you."

Pet huffs, "Yeah well, I had stuff to do as you can see, and I really didn't want to get in a fight with the strongest man in the world. Not that I couldn't take him with my hands tied behind my back or anything... Ow."

Ace frowned and had flicked her, justice was served. "You're family though, nee-chan. They would have held off."

"I might not have." Ace sighs.

"I don't remember you being this difficult when I was younger."

"Your memory must be really bad then... Ow." Pet smiles, "I don't remember you being an adult when you were a kid. How time flies."

Ace laughs, "A lot has happened. I found more people who accept me... and love me." Ace covers his face with a wide grin. A genuine smile from Ace has shown itself to Pet. She has seen the light! "Nee-chan?... Pet!? Oi!" Ace shakes Pet again in the hopes of awakening her. She slumbers after going into her ultra mode and finishing another fight despite her dead muscles. He quits after he determines she's still breathing... but what to do?

* * *

~Earlier that morning of that night~

Pet glided across the waters as lightning tried to strike her. Her coat billowed out behind her and she smiled at her hilly movements, as if her path were squiggled out before her. She was forced to do this because of the lightning strikes. The sky was cloudy and the air surged with energy. A deep breath, _I forgot how the weather is here. _

_And you thought this place was boring!_

_Nah, I expect this shit, totally predictable in its unpredictability... if that makes sense?_

Her fangs show as she suddenly seems to go off a cliff of water, falling to the ocean below. She laughs, _Free Fallin!_ Her glider accounts for conditions like these, however, as she revs up the motor by putting more pressure on the spot at her feet. She shoots across the sky as she loses altitude. A ship, previously in the distance, allows her a deeper view of its appearance. Her heart is in her throat at the image of the Moby Dick. Sounds of fright reach her heightened senses and she holds her stomach out of laughter then calls out as she gains, "Just passing through!"

She flies by and glances at the deck once, the beat of her heart deafens her as she recognizes the freckles and wavy black hair, those eyes and that mouth... Nay, that whole face is familiar to her, _Ace._ She turns away as she lands without stopping.

Behind her she ignores, "Hey!" She sighs as their distance is extended, _Another time, Ace._ The orders she received to find Kiken Ryker in the New World are top priority and they made it clear, no time must be wasted.

* * *

~Present~

Pet awakens with a jolt as she bolts upright, then shivers from the smaller cuts protesting. She growls as she sees she's in a strange place and feels the familiar rocking of a boat underneath her. _He didn't!_

_... I think he did._

Pet hops out of bed and looks herself over, _I'd have been just fine! That idiot!_ Pet finds her tarnished coat with a frown and drapes it over her shoulders. She bursts outside and an aura of extreme rage silences any in her path. She follows her nose to the fresher air and bursts out onto the deck of the massive ship. Ace notices with a smile and runs up to her, he doesn't realize she's seething with rage. A punch to his face has him down, she held back though. The pirates surrounding her get into battle stances, her eyes are on Ace, however. "I thought it was clear that you shouldn't bring me on this ship."

Ace hops back up, motioning everyone calm down with his hands, "I couldn't just leave you there."

Pet throws her hands up, "You darn well could have! All I needed was some sleep and I'd be good!"

Ace frowns, "No I couldn't. I had to repay you anyways. We're family too."

Pet growls then she turns away with a sigh, "Luckily I remember how difficult you were when you were little... brat." Ace smiles cheekily.

"Nee-chan, there's someone I want you to meet."

He pulls her to stand in front of the great Shirohige, himself. She faces him calmly and without a sign of weakness despite the bandages showing beneath her clothes. Whitebeard eyes her with the same level of intensity, sizing each other up. Ace smiles, "Oyaji, this is my nee-chan, Pet."

His booming voice startles Pet slightly, "You're the Admiral."

Pet nods with a smirk, "You're the strongest man in the world."

The great man begins, "Ace had told me you were his older sister," they were reminiscing about the fight between Pet and Shanks, "I didn't believe you were strong enough to stand up to Red Hair. Are you?"

Pet smiles, "Dunno, that fight was between me and him."

"I see. Well... Let's have a celebration! Hopefully we can talk more then."

His men all cheer and Pet shields her eyes for a moment and she glares at him, "No! I'm an Admiral! I can't be seen partying with pirates!"

Ace slaps her back, "Come on! We're family after all!"

Pet's frustration reaches its climax, "Ace-kun, you don't understand how my job works. I have-"

Ace smiles, "It'll be fine, just for a little bit. It's not like the Navy can't get on without you." Pet pictures HQ exploding, the image encourages her to stay, _Not like I like them anyways._

"Fine!" Pet yells, "Bring out the rum! I might as well get my drink on." She and Shirohige toast as she complains, "Why do you get the big one!? I wanted the big one! I can drink just as much as you can!"

"Gurarara." She laughs at his laugh. Then Ace brings her around to meeting each of his crewmates. Marco exchanges nods with her and she considers him, "You know, Marco, I just made a vow to hunt Mythical Zoans."

Marco scowls at her, "Seems like a problem, yoi."

Pet nods, "Indeed... I think I may have to rethink my decision..."

Marco smiles at her, "I'm touched?"

Pet nods seriously, "You should be," she's pulled away by Ace. Thatch takes a liking, then all the other commanders exchange varying degrees of mirth. When she reaches Teach, her stomach coils and Daray growls, _I don't like him._

_I have the strange urge to kill him where he stands._

_Do it._

Pet smiles politely at Teach, his smile is unsettling. He smells foul, a coward and a liar. She finally settles down in sitting a bit diagonal to Whitebeard as everyone else parties amongst themselves. A faint smile plays on her lips, her eyes shift to the older pirate when he addresses her, "You don't seem like a Marine to me."

Pet frowns, "Story of my life." He laughs.

"What kind of a name is Pet?"

Pet's eyes dart to the crowd before returning, "It's just what people call me."

"So its not your name."

"Nope."

"Why are you hiding your name?"

"For my family..." She watches Ace laughing with his fellows, "my other family."

Whitebeard follows her gaze to Ace, "Why would you have to hide your name?"

"My clan is pretty important... At least they were in the olden days, long long ago. I'm a Marine to guarantee their safety." Pet looks at her reflection in the sake.

Whitebeard frowns, "A long forgotten important clan, huh." He studies her for a moment, _she couldn't be..._

Pet smiles as she nods, "I wanted to be a pirate when I was younger." Her recollection causes her to smile brightly, "I would've done anything."

He can't place it, but an unbearable sadness fills his being at her words and her smile, "A clan of ravens."

Pet's breath catches as she's extremely surprised, "What... How?"

Her response is all Shirohige needs to confirm his deduction, "Guraraara, your secret is safe with me, daughter."

Pet blushes, _he just... what... why does this keep happening?_

_Just accept it._

Pet smiles, "Thanks pops."

He surprises her further when he says, "You must be a pretty important gal to the Marines and your clan."

She runs her hand through a strand of her hair, staring at the color for a moment, "I got a lot of responsibilities."

"Ah."

Pet develops a respect for the Yonko and she adores listening to his stories. Ace joins her later as she throws an arm over him and hugs him close. He blushes faintly but relaxes at her touch. It reminds him of when he was younger and she'd stroke his hair as he fell asleep. It never took him long to slip into a deep slumber, only now he has her persistent heart beat to soothe him. She's always had a calming effect, she's the rock. When all else fails, one can always count on Pet to stand firm. As a child, Ace felt he could take the whole world on, as long as he knew Pet was around. When she wasn't, he felt lost and unsure, he had to think more, and thinking is hard! With both his siblings gone, Ace had to mature and watch over Luffy, he appreciated his older sister a lot more then, her watchful gaze didn't burn into them, it goaded them into trying way more than original. If they fell, Pet would be there to catch them or correct them, guide them.

Pet smiles down at Ace in her lap, he snores peacefully. Whitebeard smiles at her, "You love your brothers?"

Pet nods, "Of course, they softened me up. Gave me a real reason to live, not out of duty or responsibility, out of love." Pet brushes her lips on Ace's forehead, "Take care of him for me, will you?"

"Of course. I'll watch out for you too, like one of my own."

Pet laughs, "Guess I better get your mark huh."

Whitebeard chuckles.

* * *

~REALLY LONG TIME AGO~

Whitebeard's ship docks at the island of choice where the two leaders of their generation come to meet. Roger smiles as they both walk into the beautiful forest filled with sakura trees. They sit across from each other, cross legged and begin chatting idly. They do this sometimes when they're not in the mood for fighting, as rivals do. Roger understands that Whitebeard doesn't really want to fight him and Roger could care less about fighting other pirates too, they both have very different goals. Whitebeard looks for family, and all Roger ever wanted was the freedom on the sea.

They start drinking and Roger mentions the D's that he meets. For some reason, that sparks the thought of Goldstrike's description about the town he discovered, "Oi, Roger, you remember you told me about that clan of black haired people, the elites or whatever. That fairy tail."

Roger barks laughter, "That wasn't a fairy tail, my friend. That was history!"

Whitebeard raises a brow, "Tell me about it."

Roger sits up taller as he smirks, "During the Void Century, there was a clan of elite ravens that helped fight the war. The top one, their leader during the era, was the legendary brunette. Something having to do with their blood and almost a religion of some sort, a belief or expectation."

Whitebeard laughs, "Gurararaa, did the poneglyphs tell you this? Sounds like a load of bull to me."

Roger frowns, "No, the poneglyphs don't mention them. I could hear them though, their story was woven into the work. They're the ones who made the poneglyphs and the ancient weapons."

Whitebeard stops after he gulps down some quarts of liquor, "That important huh. Why aren't they around?"

Roger stares at his drink, "They lost the war, and the government persecuted them. They were hunted and I assume they went into hiding" he takes a drink.

Whitebeard frowns now, "What were they called?"

Roger mutters, "Uchiha. You still hear stories about them sometimes, but they're based in legend now." Whitebeard nods and Roger's eyes flick to him, "Why are you bringing this up?"

Whitebeard sighs, "One of my sons came across a hidden village where all the inhabitants had raven hair... except one little girl with brown."

Roger's smile grows, "She'll be great when she's older, if the Uchiha's history is correct. She'll definitely cause a stir, this makes me want to stick around a little longer."

"But you worry about your sickness?"

Roger goes, "Mah, it won't hold me back, I've still got many years in me."

"Aye." They click their drinks together with wide smiles.

Roger did end up lasting a good few more years before his execution; he and Whitebeard had one final meeting where Roger passed on all his knowledge and told him about his baby on the way.

* * *

**Author's End Note:** Tell me what you think and all that. Thanks for the reviews guys, seriously, thanks. I only even spent time on this because I got some reviews that I just had to live up to what with people asking me to Update soon. I'm a friggin people pleaser haha. Alrighty Review, Favorite, Follow, Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	20. Rekindling Memory Lane

**Author's Note: **Another chapter! Yay! So just this last little side story I'm going to finish then I can get to Luffy and the ending chapters! I'm so excited!

Characters Included: **Whitebeard, Portgas D. Ace, Sengoku**

Some smaller appearances and then another **surprise.**

The rough summary of _The Vixen's Incidents of Debauchery _if you're interested: An insane &amp; tenderhearted woman, Willow, goes on an adventure to find the love of her life Ace. Coupled with her prized devil fruit power the Seduce-Seduce fruit, she's going where no OC has ever gone before, into the beds of every hot man (maybe woman) she finds. Her journey is riddled with detours and dark themes, so beware! Lot of Lemons! Pretty much everything w/ BDSM FxF MxF. **Extreme Maturity!**

I'll probably start putting up this story by the next chapter for Pet's story. Now for Demon Wolf Pet!

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 19

Pet smiled as Ace seemed to hug her for longer than the designated hugging time. She kissed his forehead and he blushed, through telepathy, he looks into her blue eyes, "_I love you, Ace-kun._" He grins wide at her.

Pet looks at Whitebeard, still flashing a bright smile, "I'll see you around, oyaji."

"Gurara, ah."

Ace grumbles, "Do you have to leave so soon?"

Pet nods, "I gotta go make a report and do... stuff. Important stuff." She nods definitively. Ace shakes his head at her. She winks then hops off the ship, holding the board to her feet as she turns it on and shoots by. She hears the pirates call out their farewells. She glances back and gives one wave before turning forward and speeding up.

It was the morning of the night before that she left. She had breakfast with the rowdy pirates and made it clear she couldn't stay long. Ace told her about Luffy and how he was doing and what not. He looked down covering his face when Pet placed her hand on his shoulder and told him, "You did good, Ace."

Now, Pet glides across the sea, heading back to HQ. She arrives within many hours and hops onto the docks while running to lessen the velocity. She slows to a walk and heads inside to her room. Many salute her on the way and greet her, "Admiral, you're back." "Pet-san, how was the trip?" "Did you make any new friends?"

Pet waved at each and flashed a tiny smile on her way, she was used to the attention by now. After all, she had trained most of these Marines at one point or another. They all held high respect for her and wanted to be friends with her. She tended to treat them all very tersely which, in turn, made stars of their eyes as they exclaimed how cool she is. Pet would be gone by the time they came to their senses.

She reached Sengoku's office after dropping off her stuff in her room. She banged open the door, startling him, and he told whoever was on the den den mushi he'd call them back. Pet hopped into a chair and once she had herself comfortable she looked at the glaring Sengoku, and nodded, "Sup."

Sengoku sighs, "Usually I'd only expect this from Garp."

Pet lightens the room with her shiny white teeth/fangs, "Who do you think gave me permission to copy him?"

Sengoku blinks at her, "How'd the fight go? What's the status?"

Pet shrugs, "Oh, you know. Little blood here, some sword play there, add in some punches, and you got yourself some executions. Kiken Ryker and some of his subordinates are out of the game. The rest got away. Ryker had me occupied with murdering him so they could sail away."

Sengoku nods, "He was a threat then?" Pet rubs her eyes with a small smile, _he won't even deny murder._

Pet's eyes shift to her superior as she thinks on his words some more, _was it a question before? _"Yes, I did deem him an Alpha level threat and responded promptly. Four of his subordinates are also dead."

Sengoku begins shifting papers and once he finds the one, he scribbles some things down. Pet assumes it's her report to fill out and give all the gory details. He holds out the paper for her and she gets up, with feigned strain and moans and groans, she takes the paper from him and squints at it. "I'll fill out your report, you have more field work to do."

Pet nods and heads out once more to restart the whole finding the baddies and dealing with them. She gets to spend more time in the New World at least, looks like she also has to inspect some reports of underhanded Marines. _This is going to be so much fun._

_Your sarcasm is duly noted._

* * *

Pet sits in the guest chair of a Commander's room, staring at the man while beads of sweat seem to bounce off him with the force of water bullets. Her stare is never ending as she just walked in and seated herself in the provided chairs and began her scrutiny. "I-I d-don't know w-what you w-want, Pet-san."

Pet blinks slowly at him as he tries to avoid her gaze, finally after thirty minutes of this process, she calmly enunciates, "Have you been slave trading recently? Maybe had some dealings with the famous Joker I'm hearing so much about."

The object of her scrutiny swallows, "N-no... W-why do y-y-you s-say that?"

Pet sits back, "Oh, you know-" She's up in the air as he shoots from underneath his desk. A wide smile grows on Pet's face, "Ahahah, you idiot."

Pet does acrobatics as multiple shots fire, with her as the target.

The Commander's face is still dripping sweat, but he's more confident, "Silly Admiral, I can't give that information and hope to live another day! Joker has contacts everywhere. Even in the Marines!"

Pet appears behind him, "Well I tried." A quick karate chop to the back of his neck has him unconscious on the floor. She sighs, puts her hands in her pockets, and walks out the door only to find multiple curious Marines running up to her. She barks orders, "Go in there and arrest the Commander. I'm investigating this whole division!"

They all salute her, "Sir!" Some rush into the room and she addresses the ones who stayed, "Any involved with the reports of slave trading will be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of _**my** _law. I'm the one in charge in this here New World. If I find anyone who sullies my name with their actions, they better pray... but not even God will be able to stop me." Pet brushes past to make a dramatic exit, when she's clear, she snickers and bangs on a wall. _Did you see their faces! I had them shaking in their boots!_

_Conceited much?_

_Ah, I don't mean it, they get the idea though._

_Very true._

Pet sits against a wall smiling to herself, then looks at the approaching shuffling. She raises a brow while standing, "What's with these two."

Two Marines shove two others before Pet, her eyes lock gazes with them before shifting to the two captors. They salute, "Pet-san, we believe these two helped the Commander. There are eyewitness accounts to back up our actions."

Pet frowns before looking at the beat up Marines in front of her, she smirks and the two shiver, one begins crying, she asks them, "Cat got your tongue?" She shakes her head and laughs boisterously, "You two are the most idiotic Marines I have ever come across. How stupid do you think I am?"

One of the battered Marines yells, "Wait, Pet-san!" He moves to push her out of the way, but she's an unmovable mountain. She turns behind her to find a third pointing another gun at her. _I'm being targeted by a lot of guns today. Hm._ Pet watches the bullet coming towards her and decides she doesn't want to slice it in half. Instead, the assailant frowns with a look of horror and Pet smiles with the bullet between her fangs. She spits it out so it clinks on the ground.

The two framed feel a gust of wind causing them to shut their eyes before three thuds are heard. They open to find Pet behind them with glowing red eyes in the dimly lit hallway. She looks at them, "People like this make me really angry. Are you guys okay?" She blinks and the yellow is back, they sigh.

Pet walks over to them and checks them over, after she's finished examining the second, she remarks, "You guys seem kind of similar. Any relation?"

"Brothers."

Pet nods with a smile, "Why didn't you say anything before?"

The taller of the two, Pet assumes the oldest, "They threatened our family in town, told us Joker would deal with them if we didn't take the fall. They'll be fine right?"

Pet's hand covers her heart as she dips her head, "On my honor."

The two smile as Pet motions, "Let's get out of here and tell someone about these three. Do you know of anyone else involved?"

They shake their heads. Pet spends the next few days investigating and interrogating the Marines at the division. She apprehends two more people after discovering one trying to escape and another attempting to get in contact with Joker.

The snail does the purupuru-ing, and Pet's men take the traitor away. She sits back and waits for the -gacha-.

She frowns when a familiar voice answers, "Have you got another batch for the house?"

Pet replies, coldly, "Sorry, no more bad Marines here, but if you would like to see a bloody one, I'll make sure your life lasts a few more seconds to see me bathed in your blood."

The snail frowns, "Ah... Pet-chan, I've heard so much about you."

Pet smiles, "I moved up the ladder Doffy. I'm running this show in the New World, looks like you're running the late showing. No worries though, I'll overtake yours in no time, now that I know you're behind all this. Just wait till I tell HQ, they're going to have you revoked of your Shichibukai title. I never did like you being one of them, I was all against it when it came up, but they did it anyways, probably because of the Ancient Weapon in your pocket, no?"

Doffy growls, "What do you know about the Ancient Weapons, little Marine. You aren't privilege to that kind of information."

Pet snaps, "You don't know what I'm privilege to, you pompous little lizard. The dragon in this conversation is me. You're nothing in this world anymore, nothing but a nuisance. You'll get what's coming to you, Law will come. And if he can't, I will."

"Fufufu, Law is a child, he'll come back to me and I'll welcome him as family."

"He'll never forgive you for what you did. I'll never forgive you either. Did you not just hear me? If Law can't, I definitely will. If he does go back to you, it won't stop me from tearing your throat out. You should be wary though, Doffy. I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself this time, without someone to snap me out of it. This bloodlust has only grown with my power." Pet licks her lips because she knows it will be conveyed to Doflamingo.

He frowns, "You won't get another chance, kid! You're not the only one who's grown stronger!"

Pet laughs, "You couldn't match me before! You couldn't even touch me now!"

Pet and Doffy sit in silence for a while before Doffy starts, "You seem different."

"You're exactly the same."

"Your head's gotten bigger, as well as your laugh. I don't like this new you... Seems I'm going to have to kill you."

Pet chuckles, "Not if I kill you first. My calculations tell me that you have a zero percent chance of killing me. You could probably give me a little scratch before I maul you, but it's unlikely. Then again, you're a coward who will probably send minions after me, but I know that you won't expect them to come back alive."

"Pet, the killer in you is showing more so than before. Very threatening."

"You're just trying to make me blush."

"No, I'll hold off. I'm not going to stop in my moneymaking schemes, you can try to stop me, but the Marines have no power when I hold a valuable piece of their information. I hope we see each other soon."

"I know the Marines won't take a step towards you, but you're not the only one with connections. Stay away from my Marines though, if I get enough traitors then I'm going to have to kill the source."

"Fufufu, very well. Look, Pet-chan, we made a deal."

Pet shuts the snail off and stares at the ceiling while tilting back in her chair. One of her subordinates comes in and salutes her, "Pet-san, we're ready to depart for Headquarters."

Pet gets up with a smile, "Alright, let's go." She walks through the halls of the division building, nodding her head to the Marine's saluting. She gets outside and onto her ship. Lita comes up to her.

"Pet-san, how did it go?"

"All is well, Lita-chan. Let's head back and get these Marines to their interrogations."

Lita frowns, taking a step towards her, "Do you think we're closer to finding the head of the underground, at least under Kaido?"

Pet places her arm on her Captain's shoulder, "I think HQ already knows."

Lita searches Pet's eyes, "What do you mean?"

Pet sighs as she sits back against the rail, facing Lita and the center of the ship, "I found out who, they're not going to get rid of him though. He has some information they want to keep hidden."

Lita exasperates, "Are you playing? I've never heard you talk like this."

Pet frowns with her arms crossed, "I'm telling you, Captain, because you're going to move up a rank. I recommended it and you're privy to more information this way." Lita's eyes widen, Pet continues, "Congratulations, Commodore." Pet walks away and Lita takes a moment to think over everything, before bursting into life and tackling Pet from behind. Pet smiles where her new Commodore's hands link on her stomach.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, Pet-san."

Pet turns to look at Lita with pride, "You've learned a lot these years, it was the least I could do. You'll get your new coat when we reach HQ and you know the usual documents. You have a greater responsibility now, and I'm able to share more information with you. You won't always like it, but it's always the truth." _...Almost always._

Lita salutes, "Aye, sir!"

Pet smiles and pats her on the head before going into her quarters. She removes her coat and sits on her bed, holding her den den mushi in her hands, **purupurupuru**

"Pet! You don't usually call me on this mushi. What's up? Did you want to catch up?"

Pet smiles, but tiredness lies behind her eyes, "I know who's supplying weapons to those warring countries. You told me before, remember? That you needed to figure out who, when they don't have the materials to make them themselves. We all thought it was someone in the underground, probably right under Kaido, remember?"

"...Yeah, I remember. You found out who?"

"Yes, but I don't want you to do anything without thinking it through... Because of that... Put Koala-chan on and I'll tell her. You can listen in."

An indignant look passes over the snail, "Oi."

The feminine voice of Koala reaches Pet's ears, "Hi, Pet-san! What did you want to tell me about the elusive Joker?"

Pet grins, "His name is Donquixote Doflamingo, you know of him, one of the Shichibukai. My hands are tied in dealing with him, but if you can figure out where he does his business and makes the weapons, you guys can shut him down. Be careful of Dressrosa though, I don't want you to go there without checking everywhere else first. He's dangerous and conniving. Don't underestimate him."

All voices, including Hack's, respond, "Yes, mum."

"I'm warning you all. I've fought him before and it will be a challenge. Don't go there without telling me. I mean it!"

Sabo laughs, "Okay, Pet-chan, we get you!"

Koala's smile shows, "We'll definitely look into everywhere else first. I mean, what are the chances he has it going in his own country?" She's just trying to appease Pet.

Hack's gruff voice comes on, "It'll probably all be in Dressrosa, but we can still check in all the countries doing the dealings."

Pet laughs, "Alright, I'll leave you all to it. I gotta go before someone decides to listen in. Bye dears." She hears them all synchronize their farewells. It brings a smile to her face before she sighs and goes to finish paperwork.

They reach HQ and she lets others interrogate the caught Marines. She scowls when Sengoku informs her there isn't enough evidence to take action against Doflamingo. She waves her hand at his dismissal, "Don't treat me like some low ranked Marine. I know why we're not going to do anything."

Sengoku frowns at her, but nods as she turns to walk out. He gives his permission when she mutters, "I'm going for a ride. I'll be back whenever."

"Very well, I give you the week off. Don't do anything stupid."

"No promises," she smirks.

She doesn't stop for anyone or to say goodbye. She's feeling reclusive and she needs to get out, the wolf inside has been leashed for far too long. A wide smile, from ear to ear, displays on her features as she hops off the docks and kicks her glider into high gear. Her coat billows out behind her as she shoots past and maneuvers through all the ships heading in and leaving HQ. Once she's far enough away, she lets out a resounding howl. Her hands run through the hair she let flow. _Gya, I'm so tired, glad I can finally get some time to myself. It's been nonstop work for years!_

_You earned your time off. I'm happy we're out now. What are you going to do?_

_Everything!... No, there's some people I want to visit._

_Luffy?_

_No, I'm going to wait until he's a pirate to meet him. _

_Aren't you afraid of what the Marines'll say?_

_Nope. I'm confident that they won't dare touch my family without thinking of the consequences._

_If you say so._

Pet laughs and enjoys the ride. On the way, she stops at an island in the Grand Line, one she can never forget. Talking with Doflamingo sparked her memory, as she straps her board diagonal across her back. She stops in town and buys some nice purple flowers and some cigarettes, then some booze. Her steps slow down as she nears the grave site. She sets her stuff down and lights one of her buds, to puff smoke while sitting across from the tombstone. "I'm sorry I didn't have time to give you a better resting place, Cora." She stares at the rock like its him she's talking to. _He's moved on by now, probably._ "I don't have news of Law, I haven't seen him in many years. I'm sure he's doing well though, he always was a smart one. He cared about you a lot... I did too." Pet frowns at the cigarette as she blows smoke onto the tombstone. She motions, "I brought these for you, they were your favorite." She places the pack atop the rock. "You're going to get me into the habit again, jerk."

She smiles and pours two drinks and downs hers. She leaves the bottle and the other sake cup in front of the lettering. "You idiot. You should've left when you had the chance all those years ago. Not waited to get caught by Doffy. You waited too long..." She takes another drag, smoke follows her next words, "Nah, it was my fault, I should've let loose sooner. I had the power, but your death gave me the anger to ignite it and deal with Doffy. Worse things would've come if I hadn't had reason to go all out. In essence, I should thank you, I guess." Pet thinks of that moment when they were all caught, she didn't have the desire at the time to kill the guy or have real reason to murder him.

Pet recalls Cora's face when Doffy gave him the finishing blow, bloody and all. As he was going down, and got over the initial shock, he did the darnedest thing. He smiled so brightly, Pet would've mistaken him for having a middle name D. She remembers him directing it at Law, before his fading eyes found her, despite the smile, his message was received. In that moment, he gave her the responsibility of protecting Law and she did, to Doffy's great misfortune. He gave her a reason to fight on.

Pet covers her face with the bud in between her index and middle finger. "You damn idiot." A small tear slides down Pet's cheek and she swipes it away quickly. The pain, in his last moments, lessened the smile, but he still had that damn paint and a lip smile to accompany it. He knew she'd step up.

Pet shakes her head as she continues smoking, "Who knows what could've happened if you survived. You were a Marine, you were perfect. Now that you're gone... There's this pirate, Cora, he's unlike anyone I've ever met. I almost want to share my life with him... Could that have happened to us? Would I have felt that way with you, given time? This was like fate, in a way. You wouldn't know, but I place a lot on fate, it kind of surrounds my whole existence. My fate, it's inevitable and supposedly unchangeable, what my presence in this world means. Something big is going to happen, everyone will get involved, and it's my destiny or fate to be at the start of it all... Sometimes I wish I'd die. Something always pulls me back though, I've been through a lot since you've been gone. So many near death experiences, yet I can't recall ever being worried, I mean truly worried. I always knew something would happen to help me survive or that I could do it myself... It fucking sucks!"

Pet throws her bud on the ground, it's short and she rubs it in the dirt. She stands, "Good talk, old friend. You were always so nice and kind, never judgmental. Talking to you now, you'd probably be supportive. I'd like to think that anyway." She looks at the light sky as she grabs her board once more. With one lasting glance back, she mutters, "I love you, even though you were killed." She nods and turns back. She stops as a wind blows carrying the fresh smell of smoke. It seems to cloud around her and she smiles, "It's impolite to blow smoke in people's face, baka." She walks away, _guess I have the sixth sense of a wolf as well._

_It was just your imagination._

_Whatever you say._

* * *

Pet frowns at the height of the twenty one year old. She smacks her forehead and rubs her face at the sight of him, "You're very tall now, Law-kun." The young man smirks at her. They see somewhat eye to eye.

"How'd you find me?"

Pet taps her nose with a wink, "Just followed the trail." She had to do some digging after she got to the island in the North Blue where she left him, only to find he had already departed for his pirate career. Now they both sit at a table in a bar on some other Northern island.

Law continues smirking at her, "I heard you were an Admiral now." Pet nods gravelly.

"Unfortunately, yes." She doesn't wear her coat, the island she's at has a bad reputation for piracy and she didn't want people to talk. "Keep it a secret here, though. I'm off duty and visiting old friends." Pet frowns as she takes Law's tattooed hands. "How many do you have?" She studies the worn and calluses from sword fighting.

Law drawls with a shrug, "A lot." She nods.

"A bit morbid, don't you think?"

Law rolls his eyes with a sigh, "You're not my mom." He winces when she flicks his forehead.

"You're lucky I'm not! I'm more like a cool aunt... with a concerned, soft side."

Law chuckles and Pet smiles, "You seem different."

"Time does that to people. I visited Cora's grave before coming to find you." They meet eyes, her yellow against his silver. They both seem to catch the light.

Law's expression changes back to the serious one she found him in. "I see."

She frowns back with a sigh, "Do you still have your sights on Doffy?"

Law nods, "Of course. I'm taking my time."

"I know, otherwise you'd be on the Grand Line already."

"I'm getting my crew first, I want a submarine."

Pet scrunches her nose at the notion, "As a fellow Devil Fruit user, Law-kun, I advise against that."

Law dismisses her disapproval with a hard stare. Pet has met her match as she surrenders. She looks over to the table where his first crew mates are, they whisper and point in their direction occasionally. She blinks as she hones in on their words. "An old fling?" "She looks kind of old to have been Captain's lover?" "Maybe she's his mom?" "Probably a neighbor from childhood." "Do you think she knows any female bears?"

Pet chuckles as the group turns on their bear friend. Law follows her stare to his crew before turning back and studying her softened features. "So you were missing for a few years."

Pet directs her attention back, "Yes, I was." The life in her years show and Law frowns as he witnesses the tiredness and the hardness still lurking in her yellow orbs.

Law asks, "What happened?"

Pet shrugs as she sits back, "Oh, I pissed some nobles off and they decided to get even. It worked out for the best." She flexes her arms before squeezing her muscles of iron with a grin.

"Interesting, why aren't you all stoic anymore? I like that Pet better." Law's hands come together as he regards her with interest, he smiles at her response.

She glares at him, "I get that a lot, brat. I'm an older sister to some boys. They pulled until I loosened up. It's an effect they have on people."

Law smirks, "Yeah, right. What are their names?"

"Well I can't tell one of them, but you've probably heard of Fire Fist Ace, and Luffy has yet to start on his adventure. Since you're so keen on taking your time, you'll probably be in the race with him."

"Luffy, huh."

"Monkey D. Luffy."

Law's smirk turns devious, "Another D."

Pet nods, "So many of them running around these days."

"You're one too, though, right?"

Pet scopes around them before nodding once, "It's a secret though."

"Will you ever tell me why?"

"Maybe, one day." She blinks at him and copies his action of resting his cheek against one hand. She appreciates his looks, he's a handsome man now. He always was a looker, even as a child. She can tell he's trained hard, the muscles and skill are pronounced in his every movement. None can ever have the passing thought of underestimation. He's grown so much, she can smell surgeon on him. His intelligence shows in his smirk. _Cocky brat._

Law smiles at the tenderness Pet's eyes hold deep within, he wonders what she's thinking. He figures before she hints, "You're going to catch up to me soon Law-kun."

"You don't stand a chance."

Pet sighs as she scoots back, "I should go."

Law blinks at her, "Very well."

Pet freezes, and Law stares at her, he holds his head where she pounded him, "You're supposed to tell me not to, you little brat!"

Law holds his head while chuckling slightly at her fuming. She growls as she stalks away, out into the snowy streets. Law gets up and follows her at a sprint. He matches her stride with a smile, "Pet, where're you going?"

"Probably back to the New World. Going to pick a fight with some people, you?"

"Hanging out..."

Pet stops and squints at Law while he turns in front of her. "Oi..."

He asks, "Yes?"

Pet's eyes size him up for a minute, his smiley yellow and black sweatshirt, those pants and black boots, that Northern hat, then the one thing she can't wrap her brain around. "How are you tan?"

Law smacks his face, "I thought you were going to say something serious."

Pet smiles, "And for my second question, more like a request. Let's get in a fight together... as in against other people."

Law smirks before nodding, "Alright." He let's it slide that she didn't necessarily ask, but she did have to wait for his approval.

Her smile grows as she grabs his hand, pulls him along, "I know the perfect place too!" She waits for him to get his Kikoku and they both walk to the docks of the town. She nods at the big pirate ship.

Law frowns, "By ourselves?"

"Psh, I could take them out with my eyes closed, if I wanted to."

He seems to be calculating something before she pulls him along and leaps to land square in the middle of their deck as they seem to be loading for departure. He pulls out his sword as she draws hers, "Might as well."

"That's the spirit, Law! Sorry, pirates, we're in the mood to pick a fight."

The apparent Captain steps up, "It's your unlucky day-" He doesn't get to finish as Pet has already buried his face in the wood of the ship with a downward kick. She holds her twin blades at the ready, "Less talking, more fighting."

The pirates burst into action and Pet easily deals with those attacking her, she's more focused on Law's fighting style. _Good form! Oh! Nice combo! He's using Kikoku with his devil fruit power. I wish I could do that. Mine are separate._

She lets him take on most of the pirates and laughs when their body parts are all separated from each other and they're flying through the air. He was worried for nothing. When he's finished and more seem to spring up around him, she sees the problem. _Seems to take a lot of energy to do all that. He's tired._ He doesn't let on, but it takes its toll. She lands beside him and outward slashes fly through the air from them. All the opponents fall to her attack. She straightens from her bent position and sheathes her swords. Law looks around them at the wreckage with a small smile. "I'm very proud of you, Law-kun."

He smiles at her, their eyes meeting. She rubs the hat on his head so it covers his eyes. "You've grown a lot. Cora would be so proud too."

Law looks away, but Pet can see the smile and the heated cheeks. She wraps her arms around him and hugs him for a time. He uses one arm to awkwardly pat her back. She sighs as she lets go, "Guess you're too cool for me now, huh. That's all right." She plants a kiss on his cheek and he frowns while recoiling back while rubbing his cheek with a disgusted face. She laughs and turns to leave. She hops off the ship with ease into the cold waters of the ocean, her board beneath her. She sees Law look over the rail of the ship, down at her. She gives a wave, "Bye, Law-kun. I love you!"

He watches as she activates her contraption and speeds away. He leans on the ledge for a time, just staring at the speck until it disappears, his whisper is carried away by the wind, "I love you too, Pet-san."

He goes back to find his crew members, his heart feels lighter than it has in years, but his soul is darkened by his ambition. At least, Pet accepts his desire for revenge for the caring Corazon, whose heart was too big.

Law smirks as his crew surrounds him and bombards him with questions on the mystery woman and who she is.

* * *

Pet's mind is set as she heads to the New World. It's dark and a bit cloudy, so very little light is provided to her. _I'm going to severely injure Doflamingo. _

_...Why? Weren't you going to leave him to others?_

_I can do it so easily, too many problems if other people do it._

_The people of Dressrosa won't appreciate you killing their king._

_You and I both know that his rise to power in that country was sketchy! Don't try to tell me he's their savior as he would have them believe. That's not how he operates._

_Still..._

Pet squints at strange green lights floating in the distance. _A new type of hunting tactic? What is that?_ She decides to investigate. She gains on it easily before her eyes adjust slightly and she's too late in swerving away since the turbulent waters impede her. She crashes into the mini ship and flies over the ship with a grunt and lands with a splash in the water. _Who the fuck was that!? That idiot got me killed! Waaahhhh!_ She blows bubbles as she sinks to the depths, determined to stay conscious for as long as possible so she can curse whoever decided a creepy small ship with green fire candles was a good idea.

She lets her last air out before her body's reflex forces her to suck in water and she drowns.

* * *

Pet's body convulses slightly before she turns on her side and hacks up the whole ocean. She coughs before collapsing onto the sand and falls into a deep sleep.

She awakens with a start, she sits up abruptly, looking herself over. Her arms held out in front of her with her hands and everything, "I'm... I'm still alive!..."

"..." Her eyes meet with the yellow piercing hawk eyes. Her heart reverberates throughout her chest cavity at their intensity. She stares, quite openly. Both strangers eye each other, one with curiosity at the other's staring. "Do you stare at every new person you meet."

Pet jolts out of her moment, "Sorry, no I do not." She looks at the fire going between them, thinking deeply. Silence ensues between them and the man watches her intently, without her knowledge.

Finally, he clears his throat, to his dismay, she just hums without looking up. "What's your name?"

"Pet." He continues staring at her, waiting for her to continue the conversation. After a few minutes of more silence, he chuckles, "No thank you?"

A tick grows on Pet's brow, "Excuse me?" Pet's yellow wolf eyes meet his yellow hawk eyes. He smirks and she seems to grow even more infuriated. "Thank you for what?" She asks ever so sweetly.

"I did just save your life, jumped in the water when I didn't have to."

"Oh ho! You endangered my life in the first place. Who has two creepy candle-lights to draw people in like flies? That should be a hazard!"

He laughs at her, "Wahahah, you've got spirit. I thought you were dull before."

Pet squints at him, "Look who's talking."

"I noticed your swords. Are you a challenger?"

Pet frowns at him, "Nope, just passing through. Although I was going to pick a fight anyways."

"With whom?"

"Best I keep it to myself." Pet looks around and spots her fucked up board, she grabs at her hair at the sight of it. She's standing over it, pulling her hair with a troubled expression. "My baby!" She pouts as she inspects the broken board and she looks into the engine and finds it smoking slightly. Her lip quivers and she pulls out her pack in the storage compartment. She turns to her 'savior' with a glare full of hatred, "You murdered her!"

He snorts, "It's a she?"

Pet scolds him, "You do not laugh over murder! You heartless meanie! You killed her!"

He can't seem to take Pet seriously, unfortunately Pet is all serious. He holds his hands up in surrender, but it's impossible for him to hide the smirk, "I'm sorry."

"Liar." Pet's fire sizzles out. She strokes her precious board, "My brothers made this for me. My true friend fixed it up for me..." Pet sighs as she stares at it.

He squeezes her shoulder, "Sorry, Pet."

Pet shrugs, "Can I catch a ride with you?"

He nods, "We need to fix up my boat though."

Pet smiles, "A small boat, I can do that. I need special materials for this." She nudges it and jumps back when it sparks. He takes her to look over his mini ship. She sighs and gets to work after telling him to go away. She began changing into a spaghetti strap crop top and some shorts. Then she put her hair up and got to work fixing the wood and sail.

He watches her focus, "I assume you haven't asked my name, because you already know it."

"And you asked my name because you didn't know it. How perceptive!" She smiles when she feels him frown.

"Yet you challenge me with your words. Either you're a coward who talks big, but has no bite, or you're just that confident."

"The second one." Pet laughs, "It's just because you don't recognize me that you question me this way. That's alright, eventually something will spark your memory."

"I think I would've remembered you."

"You say that now, I'm actually a big deal. Just don't have my coat on."

"You're questioning me too."

"I have the right. Technically, I'm above you? Sounds really conceited, I know. Way back when, your place next to me would've been beaten into you. Not so much as violence, but more as ingrained in your upbringing. Those eyes tell me everything about your heritage, Dracule Mihawk."

She wipes her brow and meets his gaze, "My parents never spoke of our ancestors. They did mention that our name was changed long ago to Dracule instead of something else. They didn't tell me why or what it was previously... How is it that you know about it?"

Pet sees him getting defensively curious, she turns back to her work, breathing out calmly, "There is a legend about a clan of people who have remarkable skills in one genre or subject of life with one instrument or work. Healers, Warriors, Teachers, anything you can think of, they specialized in, or at least one person did. They had different eyes that helped with their profession, yours are hawk eyes. You stand at the top of all swordsmen as one of them would have in their day. It's not rocket science... whatever a rocket is." She stands after she finishes repairing and goes to sit by the fire.

Mihawk stares at her, "It's a legend."

Pet nods with a smile, "Indeed." The conversation about it is over, although Mihawk continues regarding her with interest. _I met a descendant of the Uchiha, and he doesn't even know he is one. How is his blood showing? That's a one in a million chance, even less._

_You know, he's a way better mate than that other one._

_Can it, you! I'm not looking for mates._

_He's staring at you so lovingly though, hahaha! Looks like Red Hair's got some competition!_

Pet's eyes widen as she flushes, _he doesn't think of me that way! Look at him._ She turns to Mihawk, he's still quiet and passing her glances every now and then, as if in deep thought about something. Pet smiles when she catches his eye, he frowns at her then excuses himself to bed. She sighs when he leaves, _See, he's treating me as any stranger would._

_I dunno, he actually engaged in conversation with you and you even got him to laugh! I'd say that's as close to love as one can get with this guy. He is a man of few words._

_You just like stirring up trouble._

_It is my purpose in your life._

Pet rolls her eyes and lays down for bed.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Wow this is late... well later in the day, at least for me. So tell me what you think. Maybe a couple more chapters before Luffy, but it's coming up soon. Thanks everyone for reading and all the follows, reviews and favorites! Ya'll are really cool! Chapter Twenty coming up! Alright, next chapter comes out next week, ya'll know what to do! Hope ya'll enjoyed! ;D


	21. Rising Expectations

**Author's Note:** It's like I have so much time to write, but I'm such a horrible procrastinator. I have so much stuff for One Piece and Naruto and so many others in the works though, haha. I'm still committed to finishing this story, so no worries. It won't be long now. Montage at the end.

The Vixen's Incidents of Debauchery won't be out for a while yet, I'm just waiting on my beta, but I'm in no rush to get it out.

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 20

She's extremely angry at her predicament. He's not even going to take her where she wants to go, he just expects her to sit back and enjoy his stupid company. "This whole hostage situation isn't really my thing. If you could just drop me off at the next inhabited island, I'm sure I could catch a ride back with some friendlier folk."

"Nonsense, you interest me now, Pet." Mihawk's eyes hold their own against hers, he does a rare thing, he smiles brightly.

Pet scowls at him and takes a step back, "Don't do that, it's creepy."

"How very rude you are!"

"Well," she shrugs as she sits cross-legged on the rocking little raft he calls his ship. She lays down and whines, "I'm bored!"

He shakes his head at her, "Just tell me where you want to go and I'll take you there. None of this 'I'll catch a ride with someone else' business."

"Then you'll figure it out and hate me! I'd rather you be unaware of who you're dealing with here. Your memory must be really bad though. Are you really that self absorbed?" Pet smirks at him as he frowns at her.

"I do not concern myself with unimportant matters."

She shrugs once more, "That's your opinion." She sighs and sits up to drape her long legs over his small transportation device. _He's probably really confident about his package if he can have as small a ship as this. No overcompensation here._

_You said it, not me. Why're you even thinking about him that way? Sicko._

Pet slaps her face, _You're right! I just-... Oh my god! In comparison to that other one, his is probably... No! Stop this train of thought! Stop it! Why are they both fucking pirates!?_

Pet turns to Mihawk with a flourish, "If you're so keen, just drop me off at the Marine Headquarters. That's where I reside in a homely fashion."

Mihawk laughs, "Good one. Seriously, where do you live?"

Pet glares while engaging in a mock laughter, "Ha Ha Ha..." She goes on to mutter, "But I wasn't joking." A sigh escapes her lips and she asks, "Instead, where were you headed?"

"Searching for an old rival, checking his usual hangouts."

Pet blinks at him, "Let's just do what you want to do and, along the way, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

He nods with a smirk sent her way. She continues staring at the sky as they sail calmly along. She watches a bird fly above them, when he asks, "What's your story?"

She can't stop herself from sighing, "That would be cheating, telling you all my secrets. You don't even know your own history."

"You said it was a legend, yet you talk as if it's truth. I don't believe your words."

"Just wait till I change into a dragon and then they'll all believe me. Sorry, I don't carry the documents with me at all times. It's all hush hush. I can't educate you, it'd be better if you saw for yourself."

Hawk-Eyes stares at her, _I feel like I should regard her words as truth, yet she isn't clear._ "You told me the legend, what's the true history?"

"The true history is the legend. People just think of it as all make-believe because it's so out there."

"What was their name, then?"

"... If I tell you, you have to keep it a secret..." Pet faces him and composes herself into a business-like persona.

His gaze narrows at her, "Very well, your secret is safe with me."

Pet loathes herself for having to correct him, "It's our secret. You're one too... An Uchiha." Pet sees the recognition spark behind his eyes. She smiles, "You have heard the name?"

He turns away, "A long time ago. That rival I was telling you about, who we're going to visit, he told me a story his Captain told him."

Pet sits back, _Could this guy have some affiliation with Whitebeard?_ As her companion remembers the story, he turns to her finally. "What?" She asks as he begins a new line of thinking.

"Your hair is brown." A nod from her confirms this observation, he continues, "You said that all the Uchiha have black hair." Pet's frown deepens, she hesitates, but nods once more. "He told me his Captain said that the brown haired girl is a sort of chosen one among the clan. The top of the top, the foretold leader."

Pet nods her head as she confirms quietly, "Yes, that is how the story goes."

"Meaning you're a very important woman, if you are who you say you are."

Pet shakes her head, "Not really, I mean... The last brunette didn't do very well, so my people don't trust me to really help them, this time around."

"What do you mean?"

"During the Void Century, she failed them and they were all forced into hiding. Some of the other branches decided to remain where they were, which explains your presence outside the village, but it doesn't explain how you're expressing those traits. The traits are supposed to go dormant after mating outside the clan. You're an enigma."

Pet tried and failed to turn the conversation back on him, he returns with, "The Void Century? Help them with what?"

"I don't know...yet. It's my fate to lead them, but I doubt they'll let me and, honestly, I don't want to. I'd rather take care of it myself without involving them." She picks at the frayed edges of her shorts. Mihawk sits back in his chair, thinking deeply.

His eyes search Pet's expression as she avoids his gaze. "How are you so sure they wouldn't place their faith in you? Aren't you kind of their only hope in times of horrible unrest? Isn't that your purpose?"

She stops her fidgeting as an eerie calm settles over her, "They expected too much and were let down. I'm still only human. I could die tomorrow and where would that leave them? Another let down. I'm doing my best, but what if it's not enough?" Her body shakes but Mihawk can't pinpoint her emotions since her face is hidden from him. Only until he meets her red eyes and her expression of rage does he see the pent up anger, "What did they ever do for me?! Why do I have to worry about their shit!? Why give up my dream!?" Images of her older brothers and their children flash through her mind, she buries her face in her hands. "Yuki's mistake taught me that she had too many distractions. I'm desperately trying to not repeat it!" Flashbacks bombard the wall that separates her emotions from her heart, it crumbles beneath the weight of love. The arrows which Cupid shoots hold a power that can match no other, her other family, the people she's met and bonded with along the way hold so much more weight. They earned her trust and love. She can't just leave them for a duty to people who've barely shown any kindness or caring, they had to be separated and left to boil and stew before they realized.

"Pet..."

She jolts out of her moment at the realization she is with company. He frowns at her when she grins. Looking away for a moment, he gets up and sits beside her to throw an arm around her and presses her against him. The slight tremble does not go unaccounted for. "Don't cry," he whispers while keeping his eyes elsewhere, clearly uncomfortable with her status.

Her eyes widen and she notes the stream of tears drenching her cheeks. She tries to stop them, "Sorry, I've never told anyone that." She wipes away the leftovers and blushes, "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It's fine." He leaves her to go back to his seat, "We're almost there." She nods and sniffles slightly.

* * *

Before they reach the island, Pet allows herself to fall asleep. The rocking of the ship lulls her to sleep from her tiring release of despair. She shifts slightly when she hears male voices, one very business-like and the other very jovial and loud. It sparks a warmth in her heart as she recognizes it, distantly. She sits up and squints at the two talking on the beach a ways away from her. Her eyes widen as her gaze meets with Shanks. He stops talking as he notices her features, whereas before she had her arm covering her face. They blink at each other before Shanks smiles, "Pet! I didn't know it was you!"

Pet stands and stretches, feeling her bones pop in all the right places. She exhales, "If I had known we were meeting up with you, I would have just asked him to head to the base."

Mihawk's ears prick, "Base?"

Shanks laughs, "Her Marine base, she's an Admiral, Hawk-Eyes! It's old news."

Mihawk stares at her, he files the information away for later conversation.

Pet looks between the two, "I'll just hang out while you guys do... Whatever it is, you guys do..." Pet tries to walk awkwardly away, but Shanks pulls her onto his ship.

"Oh no you don't! We're going to meet someone first! Then have a banquet, dahahaha!"

Pet smiles at all the pirates she passes by, "Hi... Hey... How's it going?" Finally, he stops and she bumps into him muttering, before her eyes meet with that young woman she saved. "O-oh?"

The violet haired woman smiles, "I was told that the woman who saved me was an Admiral with the Marines. There's only one, and they assured me I'd be able to give my thanks if I stuck with them, despite their being pirates."

Pet grows serious, "Yes, well, when sailing the seas you tend to have a greater chance meeting people. Did you just stay to see me?"

"I have nowhere else to go. Shay's men destroyed my home and took me. Captain was kind enough to offer a place on his crew. I help with the cooking."

Pet nods, seeming to grow more serious by the minute, "Good for you. Your name?"

"Eva... I'm sorry," she smiles, but she can't ignore Pet's hostility, "Did I do something wrong? You seem peeved about something?"

Shanks stares at Pet's hardened features, "Pet." He remembers the talk they had before she left.

Pet changes her demeanor, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Sorry, just some animal thing with my Devil fruit I have to work out." Unbeknownst to everyone, within Pet's mind, her inner wolf releases a war howl for territory. "_That bitch can't have him! He's fucking mine!_" On the outside, Pet smiles sweetly.

Mihawk sees the change easily, but he can't even begin to guess at Pet's history with Shanks and Eva.

Shanks laughs, an attempt to smooth things over, "Let's party!"

The party begins and Pet spends time listening to Eva and her life story. Eva asks about Pet as well, "How'd you become a Marine?"

Pet smiles, "I signed some papers that enlisted me."

"Why are you friends with pirates? Isn't that against the Marine's image?"

"I'm not friends with pirates, pirates think they're friends with me, until I kill them. Yes, it is against my image to allow so many pirates to go free, but I've also been ordered to refrain from taking on a Yonko and I can't necessarily fight with any Shichibukai. If these pirates here were not affiliated with the Yonko or the Navy, then I'd be more than happy to massac- I mean arrest them..."

Eva frowns, "I hear you killed Shay, most brutally, for what he did. Why?"

Shanks and Mihawk listen in to Pet's response. She sighs, "His deed reminded me of another."

"What do you mean? Stop evading my questions! I'm not stupid! Why did you take it to heart!?"

Pet looks the younger in the eyes, "I've been in your position before, girl. It stirred up some past feelings of mine that I took out on him because I could. Not like you were in any place to do anything." Pet huffs indignantly, Eva blinks at her.

"You mean, you were... like me?" Eva looks at Pet's face, her scars, the rest of her skin, absolutely flawless. "You're strong, does-"

Pet cuts her off, sensing her next words, "Don't go thinking so highly of yourself. We're very different-"

Eva continues, the possibilities are endless for her, "But! You said you were in my situation, we share-"

Pet gets in her face with a growl, "The difference between me and you, I saved myself! I killed my own captors with my own two hands. I drenched their entire palace in their blood. I was kidnapped by nobles, for pete's sake! You, some mere pirates. I had to fight a whole army in an even worse condition than your own. Don't fucking compare us. I know you're trying to tell yourself that you're strong for making it through some awful experience, awful, only by your definition. We don't share anything, I have no reason to befriend you. You can't make it to the top as I did. I've been working for my rank since I was a child. Your reasoning that everything happens for a reason, to try to soothe yourself, is wrong. Bad things just happen, there's no reason for them. Good things don't always come out of bad situations. You just move on and work with what you've got." Pet finishes and Eva looks away with tears in her eyes.

Truth is, Pet called it. She remembers her own thoughts after her captivity, after she was awakened. She understood the usual mode of thinking after one goes through such a traumatic experience, yet her revenge eased her own suffering and lulled the darkness away. Dishing out her justice was a kind of therapy Eva didn't have the strength to receive. Pet never gave others the chance to make her a victim, Eva, by this time, had already been coddled enough. The thought brought a look of disgust to Pet's face, the people of this ship surely fed into making her think she, somehow, mattered more because of what happened, that it gave her a strength unknown to others. Pet knew that the true strength came when one got over the incident and forgot it, made it insignificant, because it was. It was just one moment of many in a person's life, truly insignificant to the scheme of things.

Shanks growls, while pulling Pet out of the quivering woman's face, "We need to talk." He heaves Pet with him as they head inside to find somewhere secluded to have at it. Finally, he shuts the door and turns to Pet, "What's your problem? What was that about? Is that what you would've said to her if you had stayed?"

"Yes," Pet replies definitively, "I knew she would try to make it mean something, when it doesn't. Like she's special, well she's not. Then she has the gall to try to bring me to her level, like she can overcome this and come out with as much power as me. Someone needs to tell her that that's not how it works."

Shanks steps back, thinking, "You mean? That was actually to help her?"

Pet shrugs, "She needs the God honest truth, no more babying. Of course, I would've waited until she was better to tell her, but it's been a long time and she's not over it. I can smell it, it's disgusting."

Shanks sits on a chair, the room has a desk and some cabinets and drawers with chartings held up around it. He sighs, "I thought you were just being nasty because she's still around."

Pet laughs as she sits cross-legged on the floor, "Maybe a little."

Shanks smiles at her, "We didn't get to talk openly before, how were you? You seemed sick the last time we saw each other."

Pet nods, "Oh, I was shrugging off some poison in my system. It really wasn't anything to worry about, but everybody always puts so much into it when I get even a scratch, well a stab wound, but people should know that a stab wound is basically a scratch with my healing."

"Ah, I remember," Shanks nods, reflecting on the time they fought and watched the sunset, she healed him.

Pet agrees, "Yeah, there was that."

Shanks continues, "Apparently, you held your own very well against me. I don't remember the battle being that intense." He laughs as he dodges a paper ball Pet threw.

"Shut up! They twisted my words! I barely said anything on the matter!"

"I believe you," he raises his hands in surrender. Pet huffs again and he asks, "So what are you doing with Hawk-Eyes?"

"We're on a date..." Pet smiles as Shanks portrays anger.

He fumes, "What!? No way!" He stares at Pet, pointing an accusing finger, then he notices her laughing on the floor. His anger simmers, "You're joking, huh." He sits back down, after righting his chair from his frenzy. His face is covered by his hand, his shoulders slumping, "Thank goodness."

Pet starts choking, "I can't get with a pirate!" She was only talking about Mihawk, but Shanks appears to take a direct hit. She looks away, "You know I can't."

Shanks gets up and sits beside her, she avoids his gaze, "Why? I'm sure it's happened before, the Marines aren't as righteous as they seem. **_You_** know. We have these moments."

Pet bites her lip, "It hasn't happened with the Admirals before. I can't, because of my family, Shanks."

Shanks mutters, "What about your family? You always-"

Pet tackles Shanks to the floor, she lays atop him, her lips pressed against his. Tears roll down her eyes, her blue eyes. Shanks stares into the deepest recesses of her mind, she shares it all with him. His entire conscious is pulled within her as he seems to be standing in the middle of a town.

_He looks to Pet, beside him, as she looks solemnly about them, "Pet, where are we?" She doesn't respond as he seems to pulled through a vacuum, his surroundings change and he sees Pet's earliest memories. He sees her growing up alone, yet surrounded by people. They all treat her like nothing, she barely exists. The only true attention she gets, that's positive, is from who he assumes to be her mother and the pirates she met. Then it all changes, he witnesses her being thrown out into the storm for her desire to be a pirate, and the years that pass by as she grows alone. Then Agnes, Pet holds him back when her younger self slips into the raging ocean. The two trespassers watch her struggle, then save herself. Finally, he gets to see Agnes die and Pet destroy the Marines only to venture onto their ship to make a deal. The last she shows him is when the Gorosei agree to have her one of them in exchange for her clan's safety._

Shanks feels himself pulled back to the present as his eyes seem to adjust to his surroundings. Pet rolls off him and opens the door to run out. Shanks, still composing himself, scrambles after her. "Wait! Pet!" As he follows her, he goes over what he just saw. He saw her past, but more than that, he saw the clan. The story his old Captain told him replays in his mind, the story of the ravens and the one albino from them all.

Hawk-Eyes and the others retain their startled expressions when he bursts onto the deck. Using his Haki, he follows her. Mihawk asks as he goes, "What happened?"

His crew answers for him, "This is the usual thing with them." "Don't worry about it."

Shanks takes off after her, Mihawk breathes deep before following. His interest has piqued.

Meanwhile, Pet runs with no destination in mind once more. _What have I done!? Again!?_

_You shared your problem with someone you love. I see no problem with that... Are you still going to delude yourself that you have to stay a Marine for their protection? Do you really think the Gorosei will hold up their end of the bargain? That they'll spare your family just because you continue working for them?_

_They haven't shown me otherwise!_

Pet stops as she feels she's reached the middle of the island. She drops to her knees, panting. _I can't believe I did that! What is wrong with me? H-he was just asking why, and I thought he should know. The way I went about too!_ Pet covers her face as her blush returns. _I kissed him!_

She lets out a sigh as she lays on her back, she's reached a small pool with cliffs at its far edge. Her view of the darkening sky is perfect, the sun's rays still shine brightly across it. She covers her face, _What am I going to do?_

_You'll figure it out._

Pet sits up as Shanks slides into the sandy clearing. They meet eyes as he begins, "Pet! You're a- A... What did he call them again? Oh yeah! An Uchiha! I mean, I can believe it, but... Wow!"

Pet frowns, she turns away, "So you did know."

Shanks walks over to her, his adrenaline is still pumping. "Captain told me one time. You have brown hair... Does that mean?"

Pet sits up, "Yes, now you know why. It's my duty to protect my people. The only way I can go about doing that is with this, by being a Marine."

Shanks scoffs, "As if they deserve it. It shouldn't be your duty to protect people who don't care for you. You made that decision when you were a child!"

"I know that. You didn't see everything, a lot has happened since then. They tried to make up for it. I can't-" She stops and Shanks finds out the source is Mihawk.

"Hi, Hawk-Eyes, what are you doing here?"

"Seemed like something was up. I wanted to see for myself."

"We're just discussing some things. Go back to the party, this is kind of private." Shanks waits expectantly, Mihawk's eyes search over the two.

As if an intense order from the heavens, Pet growls, "Go away." Mihawk frowns at her, but a dormant gene awakens to make him follow her orders, without question.

"Very well, we will talk about this later." He leaves, but locks gazes with Shanks for a moment. His desire to find out more about this strange woman is conveyed, and he knows Shanks is standing in the way. Shanks' eyes narrow at his rival, he recognized the beginnings of something. _Strange_, he thought, _he doesn't strike me as the type of person to be interested in... well anyone._

Pet waits until she's sure Mihawk is a good distance away, "I can't abandon them." Her whisper barely registers on Shanks' senses.

Shanks walks over, he understands, at last. "Your honor would be at stake. Not only that, you're too kind and forgiving."

Pet chuckles dryly, "Yeah, I'm too forgiving." She thinks of all the people she's murdered, because they stepped out of line.

Shanks laughs as well, "Not when you know the people aren't sorry. The case with your family is different. They tried to apologize, and they're your family."

Pet blinks at him, "Exactly."

Shanks smiles, "I still don't think you should be a Marine. You don't fit in with them. I also don't think you should put your faith in their word. You'll only be disappointed again. As your family, wouldn't they want you to be happy?"

Pet stares at the ground, "I can't give up on the World Government, just yet. They know they need me and they haven't acted out against me. I can't take the risk." Shanks sighs, he pulls her against him, so she leans against him. Pet breathes in his calming scent. "You were right, though." Shanks black eyes meet her reflective yellow, "We still have these moments." He smiles at her as their breaths mingle on their way to meet. Both hearts seem to synchronize in the heat of the moment. A certain frenzy begins as they get their first taste of each other. Their desire had been building since this moment, and they allow themselves to be satisfied by the other, only to hungrily want more. Pet's gasp is cut short by the sound of more people approaching. They'd already laid down with Shanks slightly over her. "Shanks," she breathes while shivering at his kisses travelling down her neck, they tickle slightly because of his scruffy beard. "We have to stop."

Shanks growls, "Why?" He gets his answer when his crew mates' calling reaches his own senses. He sits with his elbow against his knee, his face against his hand. "Damn." Pet smiles at him, more brightly than she has ever before. His matches hers when he sees it, "What are you smiling about?"

"I'm just happy." Pet laughs and they kiss once more before separating completely. Goosebumps remain where the lovers had touched the other. His crew mates arrive and they both show happiness in their actions. Mihawk decides to stay the night which Pet is all for. She feels him watching her as they all camp outside, after the party loses its glamour. She sneaks away to snuggle with Shanks in his room.

In the morning, they are awoken by Mihawk's telling Pet that they're leaving. She gets up and out with Shanks frowning after her. He stops her before she opens the door to pull her into him. She smiles at the contact, "I have to go." Yet his warmth seems to plead with her to stay and she could never turn her back on a beggar. Shanks could say the same about her, however, that she was pleading in her movements for him to keep touching her. They had a certain bubbliness and mirth that could never die when they acted as a unified front. In their case, love bred confidence.

"I know, I just wanted to ask you something before..."

Pet's eyes meet his, "What's that?"

"Join my crew," Shanks is completely serious in making the offer.

Pet laughs, however, "Not today, but I'll keep the offer in mind."

He nods at her with a smile and they both go out. Pet's eyes settle on Eva, she looks fiercer than before, not as conniving or annoying. Eva nods at her, "See you around, Pet-san."

Pet smirks, "Definitely." The curve of her lips gave way to her pleasure in seeing a woman stop wallowing and take the initiative for once. Pet wouldn't be surprised if when she saw Eva next time that the young woman would have taken up pistols as weapons. As Pet brushed by her, a thought sprouted in Eva's head as if some being outside herself had sent her the message.

* * *

Pet spends time with Mihawk as he takes her to Marine Headquarters. Along the way, they have idle chitchat. "So, you and Shanks?"

"Yes, the heart wants what it wants, I guess." Pet searches Mihawk's features for some inkling of his thoughts, as any Uchiha though, he's a master in hiding his emotions. "Someday, I'll take you by my home island and you'll meet other Uchiha. You'll see." Pet laughs as Mihawk stares at her.

"I'll take you up on that offer."

"I know you will, because it's intriguing. Just this once, as new Kia Nkiruka Philomena. That's the ancient name for me." Pet smiles, "I prefer just Philomena."

Mihawk merely stares at her some more, "What language is that?"

Pet shrugs, laughing boisterously, "I don't have a clue, it's a mixture of languages!"

Mihawk sighs at her antics, "You seem happier."

Pet shrugs, looking sheepish, "Yeah, well."

They reach the Headquarters in no time. Mihawk listened to Pet's rambling about her past experiences and she even had the audacity to poke fun at him after telling him what she used to think of him. She got him to laugh a few times and he discovered that he really enjoyed her company as a friend and wished to spend more time with her. They had already reached HQ by the time he realized this, as it was just on the horizon. Pet frowned at the sight of it, but still held her head high all throughout her return. Of course, the Marines heaved a huge gasp at her arrival with one of the most reclusive and serious of the Shichibukai.

Garp happened to be coming in and was already on the docks. He laughed as he walked up to her, she smiled at his approach, "How does something like this happen?"

Pet shrugs, "I'm just lucky that way." She takes the pieces of her board onto the docks and orders some Marines to help her carry them. They comply easily with hearts in their eyes. Pet frowns before realizing, "Ah! I'm still in shorts and a crop top!" She digs through her bag and throws on her coat to cover up. Most of the Marines complain, even Garp throws in a little suggestive catcalling. Pet snarls at them and they all drop it, while Garp laughs in response.

Pet turns to Mihawk, squinting at him, "Oi, did you plan this?"

Mihawk, to everyone's surprise, snorts, in an effort to contain his laughter, "Wahaha, no! But I didn't mind it." He smiles and Pet smacks her forehead. She resigns herself, _I have to be more careful as a woman with a big bust, I have an even bigger responsibility._ Then she flushes while thinking of Shanks probable reaction, seeing so much skin. His member must have reached for the stars!

Garp walks beside Pet as they head inside, after Pet waved her goodbye to Mihawk and offered her thanks for the ride. The two laughed and just behaved in a very silly and non-serious manner, considering they're both top officials in the Marine system. Pet parted from him to talk with the Marines trailing behind, carrying her things. She orders one of them to drop her bags at her room and the others to leave the board with Vegapunk. Garp eyes her, "Have you been keeping up with Ace's actions?"

Pet smiles, "A bit."

Garp shakes his head, growing unusually serious, "He's going to get himself killed. The Navy won't be able to do nothing, since he's Roger's son."

She narrows her eyes, "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Garp frowns at her, "Your importance isn't enough. The threat of the Pirate King outshines you."

Pet meets his gaze, "I'll be a bigger threat if they kill a younger brother of mine."

Garp eyes her, "Pet, you can't do anything. They chose their paths, we chose ours. This is what we must do."

Pet turns away, "I didn't choose any path. I make my own for what benefits me. I chose them as my brothers, and acting as an older sister comes before my duties as a Marine. That is the path I'm walking, being an Admiral was for this purpose, to protect my family, be they blood or not."

She walks away and Garp frowns at her leaving. He understands her reasoning, in his uninformed state, however, he can't know how right she is in saying she poses the greater threat.

"Pet-chan! You're here! You haven't been here for a very long time! I was starting to think you'd finally defected."

"As if they'd ever let me. How are you doing, how's the project going?"

"Uh, Good! Can you help me with something though, explain to me... How did this precious creation get to be destroyed!?" Vegapunk points at Pet's broken glider on his table.

She shrugs, "I was in the New World, shit happens in the New World."

He nods, "Very true." He gets to work on it with goggles and sparks flying. "Is it all right if I upgrade it then?" She nods as she sits at his row, in the shape of a square missing one side, made up of multiple computers and machines, he tends to roll to one then another when he's in the zone, having multiple computers working on multiple things. She does a gallery walk to look over the progress of the Pacifista project.

"Wow, looks like everything is perfect. These things will definitely help with the lower level pirates. I'm still not convinced we can get them to work on the higher ones though."

The zaps stop as Vegapunk takes a moment to think on his creation, "They're not things, Pet. They're people we're overwriting, like computers. I'm going to do my best."

"Or else," Pet laughs, but Vegapunk flinches. She notices and murmurs, "I got your back and you got mine, right Kichigai?" (A/N: Kichigai=madman, in Japanese.)

Vegapunk nods slowly, "Right." She smiles at him and he feels a rock forming in the pit of his stomach.

She walks over to him, "Love you," she hugs him and kisses him on the cheek before leaving. He watches her go solemnly. When he's sure she's gone, he covers his face as his tears begin to fall.

"Forgive me."

* * *

Pet stands on her head, waiting for something interesting to happen. Marines are training in front of her as she stares at them all, still upside down. Garp walks in with a smirk, "What are you doing, Pet?"

Pet rights herself with a smile, "You know what today is, Garp-san?"

Garp nods as both their smiles grow, "Ah."

Pet quakes with excitement, her shaking fists in the air as she shouts, "It's his seventeenth birthday!" Her smile is bright and she wishes to go meet him on his new adventure. She thinks of the child she left so long ago, then thinks of the men his brothers have turned into. She covers her face, "He's going to rock this world."

Garp frowns at her, "Let's hope not."

Pet smiles at him before nudging him with her elbow, "You softy. I'll watch out for them now, you did your best as they grew up, now you have to stop, because of your duty. I don't share the same limitations, I'll protect them with my life."

Garp shakes his head, "You need to stop saying that."

Pet shrugs as she thinks back on the years gone by. She's spent time with Hawk-Eyes, Shirohige with his crew and their allies, Dragon and the Revolutionaries, then all the times she's run into Shanks. They haven't had time to themselves since that night. She smiles at the time she got to fight with Kaido, then she met Big Mom. She's done a lot in her wait for Luffy, yet a sense of foreboding prickles at her neck. She feels depressed and like she's losing time. The Gorosei gives her more time to herself, for some reason. She tends to follow Garp around to entertain herself, him or Aokiji. Sometimes she'll deliver messages.

In one moment, she highlights the more important encounters leading up to Luffy's birthday.

* * *

Pet didn't know how she ended up in the current situation. She was under the sea on Shirohige's ship to visit Fishman Island. She had expressed her interest in the place and Ace was all for taking a trip there. She smiled idly as fish and sea kings swam by, they didn't give them any trouble. They were allowed easy passage inside and when they docked, a multitude of mermen were there to greet them. She watched Ace hop off and run up to Jinbe, she recognized the Shichibukai. Ace pointed at her, still on the ship, and motioned for her to come down. She hopped down and nodded at the fishman, he narrows his eyes at her, "Why is an Admiral with a Yonko?"

Pet shrugs, "I'm being held hostage." She nods definitively, "It's such a shame, really." She winks at him and he laughs, Ace throws an arm around her while puffing his bare chest out.

"She's my nee-chan."

Jinbe practically chokes and Pet laughs, "Yeah." She ruffles Ace's hair and he grumbles at her. Jinbe shows her around and she has a blast on Fishman Island, no Marine has set foot there, because of Whitebeard territory and the issue of mingling species.

Pet had a long discussion about the issues and she sighed in her regret. In her ancestor's place, she would make sure these young Fishmen see the light of day, someday. He expressed his regrets about Arlong after she brings up her issues with him. Ace tends to just smile and look between their conversation.

Later, Pet leaves to go back to her life as a Marine. Her board was fixed not too long ago so she could travel alone, again.

* * *

She frowned when she sensed a dastardly scheme begin to form behind Crocodile's eyes after she mentioned an ancient weapon by the name of Pluton. _I shouldn't have told him about that._

_Ya think!?_

She was merely checking up on him, more for her own desire than the Navy's. He'd been a Shichibukai not too long, and she was alright with sending people to prompt him into joining, in the first place. She had brought up Doflamingo after noticing his newspaper detailing the Heavenly Demon's work in Dressrosa. He asked how it was possible for him to be a Shichibukai and she let slip that he had some information on an ancient weapon.

She sighed when she told him that, but she was tired for some reason and couldn't explain waking up on her ship with no idea of why she set sail.

* * *

A great smile grew on Pet's face when she saw the main ship of Kaido's growing fleet. She ordered her men to bring her ship beside it. The pirates aboard seemed to be fretting, in the distance, until her eyes make out their changes to bringing the ships together.

Pet smirked at the monster of man as they both stood on their own ships to look upon the other. "I thought you'd be bigger."

Kaido laughs at her, "You keep underestimating me, Pet."

She shrugs, "You underestimated me first. Practically, outright, insulted me with your little scheme."

Kaido smiles deviously, "Just a test, I needed to know how to deal with you."

She nods and licks her lips, "Have you decided yet? I always find the best way to fight me is either head on or not at all. Maybe if you sent a great army you'd be able to tire me out, a little."

"You overestimate yourself."

"Very true, except that would be the case on a full moon. Wait, I just remembered!" Pet's eyes glow red as her fangs and claws sharpen, "The moon is out, isn't it!?" She snarls and crouches, ready to battle.

Kaido laughs, retaining his smile, "A wolf zoan fruit perhaps?"

Pet growls low.

Kaido narrows his slanted eyes, "No, something else... What are you?"

Pet appears behind him, but he stops her downward swipe with her claws. She grabs his fist as it goes to bury in her stomach. The massive amount of power being released cracks the ship beneath them. Both have locked their eyes on the other, as Pet and his own feet seem to break the wood around them as they push against each other, as if testing the other's strength.

Pet flips back in quick succession as he follows her while trying to make his blows connect. As always, her speed in unmatched, she appears below him to kick his chin upward, but he grabs her ankle and slams her into the deck of the ship. She disappears from the rubble to face him, no outward sign of distress. Kaido cracks his neck and his fists before his crew mates beg him to stop, as the ship will be destroyed. Pet grins, wolfishly, "Shall we continue? Or wait for a better time?"

He frowns at her, "We'll fight another time, preferably on an island."

"Just let me know when and where, and I'll be there." Pet retracts her claws and her fangs lessen, while her eyes shift back to yellow. She hops back onto her ship and tells her men to continue on their path.

When alone, Pet smiles at the confrontation. An ounce of respect developed for the Yonko, and she earned some of his as well. After the small trade of blows, he didn't feel the urge to seek her out and destroy her. They both had their own things to do and he could respect her completing the tasks of her job, but he was going to do what he wanted do. He could accept the challenge of her blocking his way, some of the time. Her apprehension of his allies and underlings had lessened in the past months. It wasn't necessary or convenient for him to fight her, any more.

* * *

She came in contact with another Shichibukai while docking at an island for supplies on the Grand Line. Pet was dismayed at her men's easy succumbing to the Snake Princess. She rumbled at her from her battleship, "Can you go inside? You're distracting my subordinates."

Afterward, Hancock educated Pet on how everyone is beneath her and that she can get away with anything. She paused for effect, then did some pose, "Because I'm beautiful."

"I'm not really into that whole female and female relationship. I also don't particularly care about you, I just want to get my ship resupplied and go." It was easy for Pet to stop a kick from the furious woman, Pet's mood was just not too good and it seemed to be deteriorating with the passing months. Pet grabbed onto her leg and spun her around only to throw her into her ship with a loud crash. "I'm not in the mood for these interactions." Then Pet had to face the wrath of Hancock's pirates, because of Pet's growing migraine, she threatened, "If you pirates don't go about your business, and stop patronizing me, then I will be forced to take measures. Such as revoking your Shichibukai status, Boa Hancock, and I will, personally, lead a fleet of battleships and sink that island you all call home. Ya got me?"

Hancock didn't seem to want to comply, her pride was at stake. Yet she recognized someone not to be trifled with, instead she went into a woe-is-me state and Pet finally threw up her hands and went inside to escape her annoying tendencies.

This incident caused a stir with HQ, as usually Pet could handle those situations without breaking a sweat. She shared her issues with Vegapunk and he promised to fix them up with her new batch of pills.

* * *

Pet nods finally, after there's a ceasefire from the barrage of memories. She smiles at Garp before walking away, he watches her go. He thinks to himself, _she's looking better after the initial trial runs. Vegapunk did a good job, too good a job._ Garp has grown serious in watching her silent struggle, in the beginning stages of the drug, she had side effects she doesn't even remember. _With this, they're confident they can keep her down, if they do something she doesn't agree with. _Garp shakes his head, _I'm sorry, Pet, to be keeping this from you. Even I can see they made their choice with their lives, and they'll suffer the consequences someday._

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Ah finally! So let me know what you guys think, I just had the last few things before I wanted to delve into writing Pet's involvement with the Straw Hats. So, hopefully, I'll get most of that done next chapter. It's slowly coming to a close, I'm really excited to write the ending chapters. I don't know if I'm really going to end the story like boom, done. Or if I'm just going to leave it kind of open ended, once I get there though, I'll let you know and ya'll can decide if you want to see what my true ending is, as in Luffy is the Pirate King and Pet's partaking in the future war that's probably going to happen at the end of the series. It's all speculation at that point though, so we'll see. Hope ya'll enjoyed! ;D


	22. Withering and Reviving Relationships

**Author's Note: **So much writing... There were times when I was like, ah, I'll end it here, but nooo. I just had to keep going and give you guys a longer chapter. At least next chapter is the beginning of the end, finally.

Characters: **Aokiji, Straw Hat Crew, Coby, Helmeppo, Garp, Bogard.**

**Surprise-ish? Excitement?**

_Bleh... Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 21

"We've received word that a newcomer has taken down Captain Morgan in the East Blue and we'd like to know who to send to retrieve him."

Pet yawned, "Send Garp, who's this newcomer?"

"The report says his most defining feature is his straw hat."

Pet's chair topples over, she gets up from behind the desk with both her hands spread as she eyes the Marine she's been speaking to, "Excuse me? Did you say straw hat?"

The poor Marine gulps, "Uh... yes."

Pet gets up and sits back in her chair, "Very well, I'd like to see the report then, and go tell Garp to collect Captain Morgan, I'd like a word with him as well."

"Aye, sir!" The Marine walks out and Pet puts her feet up on the desk as she leans back with a grin, _he barely turned seventeen and he's already kicking ass and taking names. I think he gets it from me, haha._

_Wow, even Ace didn't get noticed that quickly. Luffy just started too, what, he set out like two days ago? Even I have to give the kid some credit._

Pet smiles as she sighs, _I'll have my work cut out for me._

_I don't envy your job._

Pet mutters, "Come in," after the knock. The Marine from earlier walks in and she takes the file from him. He leaves after she thanks him. He also informed her Garp departed for Captain Morgan. She reads over the file at Luffy's antics and her grin grows wider, "This is definitely him." _I can't wait to see him. I wonder when we'll meet._

* * *

Pet walked down the familiar path as the villagers came up to greet her, a different interaction from when she first visited. She smiles and waves at them before making a stop at Partys Bar. She was feeling nostalgic and couldn't sleep the past few days. Her fangs sparkle as a green haired woman starts at the sight of her before setting a cup down and running to throw her arms around Pet. Pet returns the hug as the woman bombards her with questions, "Where have you been? What happened? Why haven't you visited sooner!? What are you doing here?"

Pet chuckles as they part and move to the bar to sit, "Don't you guys get the news coos around here? Well, first..." Pet summarizes her capture, but omits the gory details before answering Makino's other questions, "I have a lot more responsibility as an Admiral so I couldn't visit and I wanted to wait anyways. I figure I'll see Luffy at one point or another. I'm here to reconnect and take care of some business in Goa Kingdom, frankly I've left it alone for far too long."

Makino smiles as she pours Pet some hard liquor. "Tell me about your travels up to the point you left off."

Pet remembers telling Makino over dinner one time about the people she's met and some of her missions. She even told her about Bellemere. Pet laughs, "Well, I met Shanks and all the other Yonko in the New World. They're really powerful pirates who pretty much rule the seas over there. Then I see Ace every once in a while..." Pet goes into detail she couldn't before with her capture, to spare Makino the negatives of that time, but now is a different story. She gets to tell about her training and becoming an Admiral, so much more.

It's later in the day when she finishes and Makino nods at her storytelling skills, "Seems like you've done a lot."

Pet shrugs, "That's just what happens when traveling. Tell me about the boys growing up, how's everything with Foosha?"

Then it shifts to Makino's turn to explain everything. Afterwards, Pet gets up and leaves a stack of belli on the table, she's been drinking the whole time. Makino tries to turn her down, but Pet shakes her head, "Let me pay for my drinks." Makino laughs at her as she walks out, "I'll visit again some time."

Pet's hands are in her pockets as she takes the path up to a certain house. She knocks on the door in the later afternoon, the familiar faces that greet her bring a warmth to her heart, such as the time she was hugging Makino. Pet laughs as Dadan tackles her, "You idiot! I wasn't worried one bit! And I didn't miss you!"

Pet pats her back, "I missed you too, Dadan. Sorry for making you worry." Pet sighs as she's pulled into the house to retell her explanation, "I don't have long, I have stuff to do in Goa."

The bandits toast and Pet can't help but feel a little torn at leaving so soon. Dadan pats her on the back before Pet turns back into the forest. Once in the forest, she releases her breath, _now that I've done that, just one more thing to clear my conscience._

_It's been a while since you've massacred anyone, are you sure you're up for this?_

_This is going to be fun!_

Pet's never been more serious in her entire life, the sun is almost past the horizon. She picks up the pace, a blur in the forest as she runs through the barren land that used to be Gray Terminal. The waste has made it impossible for foliage to grow, but with a surge of anger she notices the new piles of trash discarded. Pet easily enters through the gates and hops from the street onto the roofs, jumping from one to another as she makes way to the Marine division building she used to work at. Pet hops off and lands at the steps of it. The flames of anger and betrayal have consumed her, her grin is wolfish with longer fangs forming, as well as her other teeth becoming more sharpened.

She doesn't bother knocking when she opens the door and passes her gaze over everyone present. Once she's accounted for them all, she relishes in their shocked expressions, "Did you all think I'd forgotten?"

Some flinch at her voice and she begins walking around, surveying the changes made by time. A nice intake of air through her nose makes her eyes glow with fiery power.

A black haired older looking man steps forward, his facade displays confidence in his next words, but Pet isn't fazed because of the cowardly fear he reeks of, "What can you do? Do you think you can kill us without repercussions? You don't have that kind of power. I hear you had to be saved from that Kingdom."

Pet nods before her nodding turns to shaking her head with a guttural laugh, "Actually, I killed anyone involved with the Kingdom and they decided it would look better on the Navy's image if they said they saved me. I can do whatever I want to you all and no one would care, not the Navy, not the nobles. Nobody, that's the kind of power I have, I'm not sure which you were talking about. And there won't be repercussions because..." Pet pulls out some folded papers from her coat's inside pockets, she continues with glee, "I've already discontinued this Navy division, see," she points at all the other Admirals' signatures and Sengoku's to finalize it, "You're all fired and we're selling this building. Apparently it's come to the attention of the higher ups that this division doesn't participate very much in the fight for justice, so it's just a money shredder."

She hands the documents to the speaker from before and watches his look of shock, anger, then, her favorite, fear. The others crowd around to look at them, Pet sits back on a desk watching their different expressions before she gets up and walks to the front doors and locks them.

Pet turns around as all eyes are on her, "You know, I'm not even angry about what happened, the only anger I have is you people took me away from some very dear little brothers of mine. For that reason alone, I think it's my job to bring you all to justice and guide you all to those nobles and that King and prince in hell," Pet crouches with one palm on the floor, her claws, fangs, and eyes all appropriate for the occasion, her growl demonizes her voice, "No worries, I'll join you there some day and play with you some more. I figure you'll be more durable so we can all have fun for eternity." She chuckles before jumping and clinging to a wall like Spiderman, her previous location has been fired upon, "Yes, fight for your lives! It won't matter though!" She disappears and lands in the midst of them before dragging her claws down the two in front then slides back slapping her hand on the neck of one previously behind her. The force takes him into the air and as she slams him down, her other hand's index finger stabs across his chest.

From her new place on the floor, she extends her leg and angles her body to swipe the one standing next to the fallen comrade, they blow away from the force and fly into the wall. She made sure it wasn't enough to break it. She flips and lands on her feet to face the four left untouched. "Prepare yourselves."

Pet steps to the side as one guy charges her before she hops and twirls so her knee collides with his cheek to break his jaw and crash into the woman behind him. Pet grabs another woman by her throat and holds her up in the air as she claws at Pet's hand and her legs flail beneath her. Pet watches with a face set in stone, she has no sympathy, her sense of duty is what drives her. Her grip on the woman tightens and she stabs her repeatedly so blood trails down her arm from the woman's gurgling. Pet holds her in front of her as another shot goes off, Pet smiles from behind her as she finishes her off by crushing her windpipe. The bloody carcass drops with a splat to the floor.

Pet dodges another bullet before she's right in front of the shooter and a quick hit to their hands, the gun falls, and Pet grabs it to expertly lock and load, jumping back, aiming, and firing off three shots. Once in the shoulder, thigh, and abdomen. The Marine falls in pain. Pet turns to the recovered enemies. The first two get a quick succession of jabs and punches before they actually feel the inflicted damage and lie lifelessly on the floor. Pet dodges a sword swipe from the only untouched woman, well, untouched in the fact that she was only toppled over by another of Pet's victims. Pet kicks the sword from her hands and turning to deliver a good punch to her gut, hard enough to break bones and cause an upheaval of blood. Pet frowns as she notes these Marines don't have much fight in them, they're all out of commission. She shrugs as she goes around dealing finishing blows, her idea of mercy, and a precaution so she doesn't have to worry about any future enemies.

Pet nods admiring her work then walks out the door and back to her ship. When she gets there, she stretches as she sits on her bed and falls into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

Pet frowns when she awakens in her bed at HQ. She lets her legs hang over the bed as she buries her face in her hands, _What is happening?_

_I've already told you my opinion on the matter._

_I will never suspect him of anything so underhanded. Innocence until evidence of guilt is my motto. _

_You don't have a fucking way of finding out or getting that evidence. Just put pressure until he gives._

_No, as far as I can see there's no harm being done, he's trying to help!_

_You just don't want to face the fact that your friend might be stabbing you in the back._

_Damn straight I don't want to face it, I won't acknowledge that line of thinking. He's been there for me this whole time. And you best shut up about it, I'm not going to allow you to speak badly of my friends, wolf._

_Do as you like._

Pet gets up to get dressed and puts the new incident from her mind. She walks out the door with her coat on and finds a messenger waiting for her. The Marine salutes her as he gives her the message, "Vice Admiral Garp would like you to stop by as he has returned with some new Marines he'd like you to help him train."

Pet nods as she takes the news coos for the day and notes the date, _two days... must've come straight here then..._ She doesn't acknowledge her assumptions and calculations sprouting. She clears her throat and dismisses the Marine and leaves to the training grounds. When she passes Luffy's Wanted Poster she cracks a smile, _He's already on the Grand Line after causing a stir in East Blue. _

_Slow clap._

Pet snorts before covering it up and getting outside. She walks up to Bogard training the two with bokken. She stops to watch them with her hands in her pockets. Garp joins her at some point wearing his usual dog cover, Pet keeps her eyes on the two, "Are these the two you were talking about? I wasn't around to greet you."

Pet can feel his smile, "Yeah, these are the new Marines, although they've been training hard since you've been gone. Captain Morgan escaped."

Pet nods, "I read the report. It's fine." Bogard ends the fighting session and comes up to Pet with a smile of recognition, she returns the smile. He's always been a man of very few words. The boys salute Pet, she looks them over.

Garp introduces her, "This is Admiral Pet," the two start at an Admiral, they've yet to formerly meet one. Pet grins at their surprise, Garp continues, "I've asked her to help with your training."

Pet laughs as she stands in front of them, "Seems I've got my work cut out for me. Well, I've got the time, we'll start training tomorrow, my kind of training."

Garp laughs as Pet dismisses them. She turns back when the pink haired boy forcefully stutters, "W-We're r-ready n-now, A-A-Admiral P-Pet-san!"

She smiles and nods her head, "Follow me then," turning to Garp, "we'll see you later, Garp-san." He laughs as she leads her new students away. Pet asks, without turning around, "What are your names, boys?"

The pink haired seems at a loss for words while the blonde introduces both, "I'm Helmeppo and this is Coby."

Pet nods, "Helmeppo-kun and Coby-kun then. You guys can just call me Pet-san. I don't need to be reminded of my rank every time someone addresses me. My memory's just fine." Pet laughs as she leads them to her more specialized training room. She fixed it up herself with all sorts of interesting weapons and mat, occasionally she'll take her more devoted underlings there to train, but she hasn't taught in a while because of her work. They get inside and she revels in their expressions of awe at the giant gym and the various tools inside. She smiles at it, "I haven't used this room in a while, you guys can have the key for when you want to train. I only ask that you lock it every time you leave. Some of this stuff was hard enough to find, I don't need thieves in my life."

Pet goes to a block to sit on as they begin to explore. Her eyes narrow at Helmeppo's surveying the different blades, while Coby ventures to the punching bags. She removes her overcoat, she wears her usual black dress pants and a white button up vest. She cracks her neck and walks over to Coby, "Coby-kun, spar with me for a bit." Coby seems petrified at the idea, but Pet chuckles, "I'm just going to test your knowledge, unlike Garp-san, I don't care for returning punches when teaching. Maybe later," she winks then holds her fists up, "Come." She steps out of the way when Coby starts swinging madly, she frowns while he simply delivers force without connecting anything. She just wants to see his form, _sloppy._ She stops and with an open palm lets his fist hit it. She calculates the force and determines, _not as weak as he could be, this gives me something to work with. _

He pants as his fist remains on her palm, she smiles at his eyes, _that fire, I see now, Garp. Very good potential._ She nods and turns to Helmeppo who stopped to watch. She gestures for them to trade, after a quick sparring session with the same result, Pet laughs, "Alright, let's start." First, she wants to get their muscles up to the task, so they begin the regular warm-ups. She does the thousand push-ups with them and all the other stuff, never breaking a sweat, because it feels unfair to just watch when she could be working out, herself. Then, she divides her time between teaching Coby form when fighting, as she determined his preference more of hand-to-hand combat. She's fine with that as she teaches him how to hold himself, then watching an opponent and attacking.

She leaves him to pick up where she left Helmeppo dragging giant weights from one side of the room to the other. They never make it to the other side at this point, while she simply walks up to Helmeppo, "Your turn, Helmeppo-kun," and picks up the weight with ease only to drop it back against the wall for Coby to begin.

With Helmeppo, she merely told him, "Pick one," and gestured to the blades. He nods with a curled lip as he walks through, Pet educates, "I can train you with any of these and it's no matter to me if you change your decision. There are different preferences for different people. I'm still going to teach you both the basics of marksmanship and swordsmanship, as well as hand-to-hand. You can choose to specialize in one or many if you'd like, but we'll start with one. I'd rather you be really good with one than basic in all, so we start with your specialized method of combat first."

Pet raises a brow when Helmeppo chooses the kukri. She walks over to him, "A unusual choice, but a good one." She instructs him on the purposes of it and the proper mode in holding and attacking. She draws her own katana so they spar little by little. She helps them with their rokushiki while Coby becomes more adept at it. She and Garp trade off days to train them and there comes a time when she decides, "I've taught you all you need to know. Just practice and work with Garp-san, you'll get stronger. Feel free to use the room."

Her wolfish grin grows as they both salute her, she returns it before walking out. Coby and Helmeppo smile as they turn to each other, light in their admiration. She meets up with Garp to tell him she's done all she can. His D smile shows, "They know Luffy, Pet."

Pet nods, "I've known." With that, she leaves to head out patrolling.

* * *

Pet hides a chuckle at the true incident report of what happened in Alabasta and Smoker's well thought out decision to tell the top officials off. Pet laughs outright at his antics. She appeases those pissed off at his attitude and expresses her power in influencing those in charge. She gets a call from him, "Oi, Pet, did you have anything to do with their backing off?"

Pet laughs into the den den mushi, "Of course I did, baka! As if they wouldn't want revenge for your disrespect and noncompliance! You're lucky you got a friend in me!"

"Hey, thanks for transferring me to the Grand Line."

"Well, you asked so nicely before," he didn't. "I heard rumors of what happened in Loguetown, the great Dragon showed up, did he?"

"He protected that Straw Hat pirate."

Inwardly, Pet smiles her heart out, outwardly, "Oh? You following him? Is that why you wanted the transfer?"

"He needs to be put down."

Pet nods solemnly, "I doubt it'll be that easy."

"Whatever, just called to say thanks."

"No need, see ya."

**-gacha-**

Pet leans back in her chair, stretching before getting up. With her hand on the door handle her consciousness fades as a seemingly disembodied voice utters, "Could you ever shoot the puppy, FUBAR?"

Pet freezes, her eyes are sightless and they've lost their yellow tint, "Time for another test run, Pet-san, let's get started."

* * *

Pet feels as though she's under water, stuck still, unable to move, and her mind is only capable of thinking on her pervading doom. She can't hear and her vision is fuzzy as she slips slowly into the depths, lifeless.

She awakens with a start and groans, curling in on herself as she notices the bandages covering her body. _For the love of-! _She looks over the bandage work, _this was done by me, other people aren't as precise._

_Well played. I'll give the bastard credit for this._

_Shut your mouth. How can I work against this if I don't know what the trigger is?_

_Don't look at me, I'm you. I only know what you know, and this is beyond you, therefore, it's beyond me._

Pet shakes her head, _are they trying to kill me?_ To her disgust and shame, she feels multiple stab wounds across her back and front then there's the slash marks. _Who did I pick a fight with?_

Pet gets up to shower and really inspect herself. Afterwards, she re-bandages her mysterious wounds and once outside, she scowls at the knock at the door. She walks over and opens it, "What?"

"Oh my, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Wait, where did all these wounds come from? You, wounded? Haven't seen that in a long time."

Pet shakes her head at her friend, "Pfft, you're asking me?" She lets the lazy ice user in before shutting the door. She stares at it while gathering her wits about her, to be calm, _they must know I'm onto them. I'll play dumb for now, until I can figure out how they're doing it._

_Are you going to ignore the fact that he wasn't at all surprised by your wounds!?_

_He is not my enemy!_

Pet turns to Aokiji with a smile, "To what do I owe the pleasure."

"We've been assigned a mission together. Are you coming?"

Pet frowns, gives a few seconds silence to think it over, before deciding, "Yeah, give me some time and I'll meet up." She shoves him out the door as he started to take his sweet little time, he smiles to himself once outside before frowning and walking away. Pet finds clothes to cover up the bandages and throws her coat on to walk to their chosen ship.

They both set sail, Aokiji passes the distant Pet a glance.

* * *

Aokiji rubbed his face mask while musing, "How do I say this? She's creepy like this."

Pet stood there with her arms at her sides, her eyes a dull brown, and her face set. She didn't have the usual graceful movement or elegance when her characteristics weren't being permitted to show. Vegapunk sighs, "Can't argue with you there. Apparently, they want to see if she can still battle when like this. I already told them it's extremely unlikely that she'll be at her full capacity in this state and that it's super dangerous. Do they listen? No!" He grumbles curses under his breath as he finishes a problem on his computer. Then he turns to the two Admirals. He turns to Aokiji and starts threatening with the unholy and scary index finger pointed at the unfortunate Admiral's chest, "If you let anything bad happen to her, I will have my revenge in her place! Since she won't remember! I'm warning you, the biggest warning of your entire life, don't let her out of your sight and never go too far from her side!"

Aokiji nods, "She's my friend too... but, we will be going into a pirate base. I hear they're notorious, soo..."

Vegapunk growls, "And you better be doing all the work, ice guy!"

Aokiji sighs and throws up his hands, "All right, jeez."

The two set out as Kuzan tells Pet, "Follow me," he turns back, "how long will the drugs hold?"

"At the most, four days."

The laziest of the Marines walks out with Pet walking a bit behind him. They leave in the night and take a ship of their own to begin the trip to the location.

Once there, Aokiji has to quietly dock the mini ship and begin his walk to the heart of the island to begin the launching of a full on attack. He gets to the town, some parts are slightly on fire while he sees pirates running around wreaking havoc. He frowns as he notices Pet still walking towards him, her pace is slower. He mutters, "I hope you can do this." He starts running and slides to a stop when he turns back and Pet is still walking, "Pet, stay with me." He starts his jog again and finds Pet running, unlike the usual Pet. He shakes his head, "This is a bad idea."

He runs until he gets to town and slows to his leisurely walk, Pet follows his lead as they both walk into the spotlight. "Uh, excuse me, everyone."

Some of the pirates stop breaking things to turn to him, they got to the square where the Captain sits near a pile of the town's money they stole. "What do we have here? Some Marines it looks like."

"Uh, yeah, could you guys stop and maybe leave the town alone? I don't really want to fight."

"Is that a trick question?" The pirate whistles high pitched and Aokiji frowns at the multitudes of pirates surrounding them.

He sighs as he ruffles his own hair, "Ah, I thought so."

His expression turns deadly as one of the pirates tries stabbing him, ice forms on the blade causing the wielder to jump back as it's covered with it. Kuzan's eyes find the Captain as he orders, "Attack!"

The pirates jump in for a collective effort and Kuzan sighs as he mutters, "Ice Block: Partisan." Spears of ice form and are unleashed into the pirates, his eyes widen as Pet stands still and a heavy man is about to slam his axe into her. Aokiji pulls her away and the axe buries into the ground. "Oi, Pet! Fight!"

Pet stumbles, but is up and she gets into hand-to-hand battle stance.

Satisfied, Aokiji turns his gaze back to the enemies to stop their attacks with ease and freeze parts of them. He passes a glance to Pet and notices how her speed has lessened and her power doesn't add up. He frowns before dodging haki covered weapons with a raised brow. He uses Ice Time and when he turns back to check on Pet, his heart beat quickens. She's surrounded!

He starts to use Ice Ball, but is cut short when he jerks his head as a dagger cuts his cheek. His anger starts to rise as he gets serious about the fight.

Unfortunately, when he gets to Pet, she's already been cut and stabbed multiple times by laughing pirates. He stands in the midst of them kneeling by her, her face is expressionless while she pants for air, the body's natural response. He frowns as he picks her up bridal style. Cold air blows from him as he growls, "Ice Time." The whole of the crowd is covered in ice. He determines there to be no more threats as he leaves for HQ with Pet bleeding the whole way. They get there within a day thanks to luck and Aokiji walks to Vegapunk's lab with the continuously bloody Pet.

Vegapunk starts at the sight of her before making Aokiji put her on a table and as he goes to get bandages, he stops. Aokiji demands, "Aren't you going to treat her?!"

"S-She'd recognize it... S-She has to do it," he quietly adds.

Aokiji's veins strain at the audacity to keep up the ruse. "Do as you like. I don't want to watch." He takes his leave.

Vegapunk lays the rolls of bandages on a table and begins ordering Pet on what to do. Afterwards, he tells her, "Okay, go to your room and go to sleep."

Aokiji looks over from where he leans on the wall next to the door to Vegapunk's, Pet walks out and heads to her room. He walks beside her still frowning and follows her in. It's not an unusual thing for him to visit her sometimes, his scent wouldn't cause a problem. She gets into bed and her eyes close. Aokiji sighs and does what he's always done, he gently removes her coat and pulls the covers back before laying them over her. Then he walks out with his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face, "Those bastards."

Vegapunk threw a fit after Pet left, and he leaned against a wall before sliding down, "Will you forgive me, Pet-chan?"

The next morning, he was very forward in his anger that Pet had been so badly injured when speaking on the mushi with the Gorosei.

They seemed upset that she wasn't up to her full and Vegapunk screamed at them, "Do you know what makes Pet such a great fighter!? No!? Her will! Her experience! I told you the drug takes all that way, she's just a shell of herself like that! Did you all listen!? No! For some reason she can't use her devil fruit either! That's another thing to make her strong! You-"

"Enough, don't test us, Vegapunk."

"We needed to be sure."

"Cease all tests regarding fighting, this was the last."

"We'll expect you to work to fix that, however."

They hung up, but Vegapunk still seethed with rage.

* * *

Pet yawned after Aokiji. Then she squinted at him, "You're going to spread your disease if you keep that up."

He blinks at her, "What disease?"

"Whatever it is that makes you lazy, you spread it by yawning, it's contagious, you know."

He shakes his head and looks at the paper, Pet brushes up beside him to get a look at what he's been staring at. She frowns at the picture of her younger brother, "Why are you looking at that."

He seems to grimace for a moment, "You've heard the rumors, Nico Robin joined them."

"Those are rumors, and would it be so bad?"

"You know about her, Pet, aren't you worried about your brother?"

Pet smiles at him, "Whoever he associates himself with is his choice. I trust his judgement." Despite this, Pet feels warmth in her heart for the girl, a kinship. She's not that much older than the Oharan, but when she met her, she seemed much younger. Pet looked away to allow a smile to shine at the memory. "I know your history with her, Kuzan-kun. If she's with Luffy, I think she's turned a new leaf."

"Still, if they're on this route..." Pet shakes her head as she hops off the ship, they just arrived at Headquarters, she catches, "...stopping at this island."

Pet respires heavily as she walks to Sengoku's to give a report.

Later in the day, she searches for Aokiji, but seems unable to find him. She frowns at his disappearance before heading to bed. _He's not that reckless._ The next morning she gets up and searches about for her friend again, only to still find him missing. She slams her fist into a wall, definitively, and it crashes down. She growls, "Sorry." She runs to pick up her board and to the docks only to mount it midair and shoot across the sky on her downward trek to the surface of the water.

She zooms across the ocean at ultra high speeds, she knows the route Luffy took like the back of her hand, she's had more than enough time to make this entire world her backyard. She'll always know where to look for Luffy though, just in case. She's hazy movement on the horizon and she reaches the island in no time. Tilting the board back, she shoots into the air only to dismount and with a bit of Soru, she halts on the beach. She stands and buries the board into the sand before stretching her haki combined with her wolf senses out, her heart quickens when she recognizes the people. With a billow of breath, she bursts through the forest changing in one screenshot to the next, her wolf form is faster.

Aokiji has just raised his fist in the air to shatter Robin, his fist hasn't even begun its downward trek. Pet has shifted once more and and flies through the air like bullet with one leg straightened, the sole of her shoe meets with Aokiji's cheek. The force of her kick sends him blowing through the air and crashing through trees as she flips into the air and lands on all fours with her fighting parts out and her red eyes blazing. Her gaze finds Luffy and the ice on his hand sends her bloodlust into a frenzy, she stands as Aokiji walks back, wiping the blood off his chin with the back of his hand. She growls at him, "You dared to attack him."

"I only came for her."

She sneers, "Stay away from them all, Aokiji."

His anger grows, but it can never match her fury. The crew are all too shocked to say anything, until Luffy interrupts their staring contest, "N-N-Nee-chan?"

Pet turns to Luffy, "Yes, it's me." Her eyes shimmer yellow, "Take your friends and go, Luffy-kun, I'm going to teach this bastard a lesson about family values." At that, both Admirals engage in combat, the likes of which these young pirates have never seen. Pet's fury returns and the Strawhat's take Robin away, although Luffy doesn't want to leave, his eyes seem pooled as his lip quivers, he doesn't want to miss the chance of seeing his older sister. Pet grunts as she draws her swords and disperses the spear Aokiji threw at Luffy. She stands with her back to him, "I'll find you later, after I finish knocking some sense into this guy. Go!" Luffy waits a moment before he turns tail to run away.

When Pet's sure he's gone, she lowly threatens, "I don't want to kill you, Kuzan-kun, but I'm only going to remind you every once in a while. If you so much as think about hurting those pirates, I won't be able to stop myself from showing you what I think about that." Her swords are at the ready, "Unless you want to settle this now?"

He releases his form and walks off, "I'll hold off for now, but if I see a threat in that woman, chances are you will too. I'll keep this between us."

Pet sheathes her katana, "Very well. I'll keep my eyes open, but I've met her too and let her go as well."

Aokiji stops, he turns to her, "Oh my, why did you let her go?"

Pet smiles, "I saw a human being, not the demon I was expecting."

Aokiji frowns at her before turning to walk off, "I'm going to go find a place to continue my nap."

Pet rolls her eyes and turns back to follow the direction her brother's crew went off in.

She comes up to the ship and the sight of it takes her breath away, _it... he's dying?_ Her calculating eyes follow the repairs and she grimaces at the sight of them, _amateur. _She hops up onto the rail and stands with her hands in their usual place, in her pockets, and she watches the Strawhats fret about Robin. The true concern on their faces and in their voices is music to Pet's ears. Finally, someone notices her. A boy with a long nose points as he screams, "Another one of those Marine monsters is here!"

Pet chuckles and smiles widely when Luffy tackles her so they land back on the island. She holds him and strokes his hair as he shakes, he mumbles, "I thought I'd never see you again."

Pet sympathizes, "And I always knew I'd see you again. Still... I missed you, Luffy-kun."

Luffy smiles and Pet realizes his tears are of joy. She sits up so they face each other. Luffy laughs as his crew mates call out, "Luffy!"

The orange haired young woman holds her chin as she recalls, "Luffy did call her... eehhhh?" The woman grips the rail as she calls down, "Luffy! That's your sister!?"

All the Strawhats catch on and they share collective cries of surprise while the two both laugh boisterously. Luffy nods, "She's my nee-chan!"

Pet waves at them, "Yo! I'm Pet!" She smiles at them and both she and Luffy hop onto the ship. Pet leans against the rail while watching all their mannerisms, only one pisses her off.

He floats around her with hearts for eyes, "Why didn't you tell us you had such a beautiful nee-chan!?" He grabs her hand as he takes a knee, Pet blinks at him, "Hello, Pet-san, I'm the only refined man here."

Pet bursts out laughing as she takes her hand away, "Good thing I prefer the unrefined man then!"

"I can be whatever-"

The green haired cuts in, "I see those are katana."

Pet smirks at his smirk, a challenger, "Sorry, boy, consider me Mihawk's level. You're not ready to face these blades in battle." Pet nods at the people around her, she smiles at Luffy, "You've chosen well, Luffy-kun."

He nods, "Ah."

Pet frowns as the little..._ Is that a tanuki?_ She shakes herself to clear her thoughts and the tanuki cries, "She's breathing."

Pet walks over and pats his hat, "Mind if I take a look?"

Her brother's furry friend asks, "Are you a doctor?"

Luffy answers, "It's alright, Chopper."

Pet nods at Chopper and he lets her pass. She walks in the room to find Robin covered in blankets. Curiosity draws the others in as Pet walks around her so she's on the side where the faces in the door can see her front. She places a hand on Robin's cold forehead, she frowns at the chill.

Chopper asks, "What are you doing?" All notice the glowing blue eyes and the defined veins on Pet.

She takes a deep breath before her eyes shift back and her veins go back to normal. Robin's chill has lessened a considerable amount. Pet's reflective orbs never leave the patient as she informs them, "I just sped up her recovery a bit, she still needs rest." After, Pet looks at the dubbed monster trio, she walks over to them, Luffy specifically, and grabs his previously frozen hand to inspect it then the others' unfrozen wounds. She nods and smiles, "Good job, Chopper-kun. Now," she scopes the small crowd, she's taller than everyone there, "Why do I have to request your names?"

They slap their faces and Luffy merely laughs before introducing her to everyone. Sanji goes to cook his beautiful women food, and they all mingle outside for a time and Luffy tells of his adventures. The crew notices and Nami points out, "You're a little different from Ace and Luffy."

Pet grins, "I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked. I was already a ranked Marine by the time I met them. Then I haven't seen Luffy-kun for years and years and years."

She nods and Usopp asks, "How come?"

She shrugs, "Oh, I picked a fight with some people and they retaliated. Don't worry about it, it's over. You guys are probably too young to remember the stories about it. Afterwards, a lot of time had already gone by and then I left to train for two years and came back. By that time, I decided to just wait to meet Luffy-kun again when he became a pirate."

Nami reiterates, "You're a Marine, though?"

Pet shrugs again while raising a brow, "Are you asking for a fight, Nami-chan?"

Nami covers her mouth while Usopp and Chopper scold her. Luffy laughs, "Nee-chan wouldn't attack us."

Pet nods, "I exist solely for my family, I'd never dream of hurting them." Pet smiles, but her wolf scolds her, _remember that one time?_

_I was going through some stuff, jeez, give a girl a break._

Zoro asks, "How strong are you?"

"Keep training kid, and maybe you'll find out some day." Pet decided to omit her ending words, _m__aybe after you beat Mihawk will you be able to challenge me._ Then again, Pet really doesn't want to go through the hassle.

They all eat and Pet freezes after she takes a bite. They all notice and Sanji laments, "Is there something wrong!?"

Pet falls off the crate and onto her back staring at the ceiling with the food still unchewed in her mouth, "I have just experienced heaven..." She rights herself and digs in with Luffy, although she doesn't steal others food, she bites his hand if it tries.

He whines, "Stingy."

Pet bares her fangs at him, "Mine."

He sticks his tongue out at her and they all laugh.

Later, Pet asks, "So, Luffy-kun."

He asks with a dopey face, "What is it?"

Pet grows a tick, "The straw hat was Shanks-kun's before, right?"

He smiles and nods, but the others hang on to her naming him... "-kun?"

Luffy puts two and two, "Oi, nee-chan, you met Shanks?"

Pet nods, "Oh ho! I did not just meet him, the bastard practically kidnapped me asking for a duel and everything!"

Nami slams her hand on the table in her moment, "I remember reading about that, the paper said it was a great battle."

Pet sweat drops before she chuckles, "Don't recall it being as great as the newspaper said it was. He was just pushing my buttons."

Luffy sits back and crosses his arms while his shoulders shake from his containing his laughter before he shows his toothy grin, "So you met Shanks, how is he?"

Pet cracks her neck, "He's doing well." She lays her cheek on her fist as she takes in the usual bubbliness Luffy gets when mentioning Shanks. She feels it too after she remembers the time she spent with him.

Pet sits up against one of the walls with her head bowed and her arms crossed when they all go to sleep. Luffy snores in her lap. Surprisingly, despite the loud snoring, it's peaceful on the little ship.

In the morning, Pet departs. She gives Luffy a big hug, grips forearms with Zoro, hugs Nami, pats Chopper on the hat, shakes hands with Usopp, and gives a nod to Sanji. Before she goes, she feels Robin's forehead once more to add a little extra help. Pet smiles at the woman when their eyes meet.

Pet told the crew she'd be a moment, so they're all waiting out on deck and the door to the room is shut, "Good morning, Robin-chan."

Robin blinks at her, "Why are you helping me? I thought you'd be like Aokiji."

"Unlike him, you're on my little brother's crew."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Of course not. I don't see evil in you, and I don't believe what you can do is a threat to anyone. Honestly, I'm rooting for you. Everybody deserves a chance to live, I think it's too soon to take it away when you've only just started. Right after Crocodile, huh. I won't stand in your way, but I can't promise I'll be able to keep the path clear." Robin stares at the Admiral, she never expected this, she thought it was just spur of the moment when Pet turned her back before. Now Pet tells her what she really thinks and she can't help the brimming tears. Pet goes to walk out, "I probably shouldn't say this, but I think you're good at keeping secrets... Follow your dreams and don't give a fuck what the government says or does." Pet offers a wink before she walks out and shuts the door behind her. She pats the shoulder of her brother and gives a squeeze, "I'll see you soon, Luffy. Don't cause too much trouble."

Pet hops off the ship and gives a wave before shifting into her wolf form. She shakes out her fur and grins at the shocked Strawhats then disappears. Luffy's the only one still waving. Unlike Ace, Pet doesn't think Luffy needs a caretaker, after seeing him again, she determined him to be the one taking care of them, even though he doesn't seem like it. Her faith in his potential was boosted after that meeting and she found her sleep more comfortable with that knowledge.

Regrettably, the sun rises every morning and while she felt an ounce of pride in his taking on CP9 and winning, she also felt dread mixed in. She and Aokiji clashed once more when he gave that bastard, Spandam, the authority to make the Buster Call. She stood on her board next to the ice charlatan as they watched Enies Lobby burn.

_I wonder what he considers too much..._

_Quiet, you._

* * *

Pet remained as Aokiji bicycled away. Even Pet could feel the immensity of this action. Due to the equal action of the crew members in this incident, she even figured they'd all gain bounties for themselves. She waited for the Strawhats to leave before she had any inclination to move at all. Even the idiocy of the Marines did nothing to quell her sense of impending doom. More minutes passed as their ships continued spiraling in the treacherous whirlpools and she grew tired of the sight. As she turned to leave, another worry came to mind, _the CP9 agents are still there._

_Ah, leave them to their fate. That prick, Lucci, never gave a fuck about you anyhow._

_I mean, I can't just leave them. They didn't do anything wrong, just following orders of that ass wipe, Spandam._

_I've never understood your fascination with Lucci or your interest in any of them._

_Well, Lucci's attitude intrigues me, and I respect his openness about mauling people. He is the one who helped me earn the name Demon Wolf. Also, I don't think it would've been so bad to be trained at that young age to be agents. I have an affinity for them. _

_I'll never forgive him._

_Aw, are you still mad about his trying to murder me? It was just one time!_

_He thought he could cross you and I've never liked cocky people._

_I'm over it, anyways. _

Pet glides to the smoldering island. When she gets close enough she sees the search parties, and after she's strapped her board to her back and is expertly picking her way across the wreckage do the Marines turn on her. She doesn't falter as they soon realize who she is. "Admiral Pet-san, what are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd help catch those CP9 agents. After all, they may be weakened, but they could still be dangerous, I wouldn't want the lives of my precious nakama to go to waste!?" Pet smiles brightly as she follows the scents carried on the wind. She walks in between two crumbling walls and scopes the area in front of her then looks to either side. "I can't catch any new scents. You guys can move on to the next area."

They all puff up in pride and confidence, they're very happy at Pet's kindness and decide to work harder for her sake. She turns to face their leaving with a smile, once they're out of sight, "Sup, Blueno, Jabra."

Blueno's stare is as dead as she remembers and his face is still carved in an expressionless manner. Jabra cracks a grin at her, "Pet, it's been a long time."

Kalifa pants, "Why'd you help us? I thought you didn't like us."

Pet squints at her, "I don't like you guys, but I hate Spandam and I think he's in the wrong with this one. I'll have a nice little chat with him later."

Kaku asks with one eye, "You're a doctor, right?" Pet follows his eyes to the unconscious Lucci, she snorts at his appearance and covers her mouth with the back of her hand.

The agents all stare at her, she holds her hand up, "Ah, sorry, just remembering something. It's not funny, it's not." She fans her face because of the tears brimming, "Okay, yeah, but I don't have an- Ah fuck it." She takes her board down and walks over to Lucci, the agents watch her.

Jabra asks, "What are you doing?"

Fukuro states, "I haven't measured your strength in many years, chapapa."

Pet nods as she places her hand on Lucci's forehead, "I've learned a few new tricks since then." She gasps as Lucci's pain is transferred to her. She holds her breath before she takes her hand away. "That is a lot of damage he took on." She shakes her head as she's winded for a sec and moves to each agent taking small amounts of their pain and wounds. She leans against one of the walls for a moment after she finishes, "Phew, I'm at my limit."

Kumadori hops on one foot while waving his weird scepter around going, "Yoi, yoi, thhannkk yyyoouuu vverryyy muuuccchhh." He waves his head like a snake's slithering and Pet sighs.

She mockingly salutes them, "Any time, I guess. I'll see what I can do about Spandam, just get to a doctor with all the medicine and tools and stuff. He," she points at Lucci, "really needs treatment, probably has a whole bunch of broken bones and punctured organs. Maybe at some point I'll find you all." Pet gets up and dusts herself off. She picks up her stuff and decides to rummage through her compartment on her board and fishes out some basic meds. "Here, some bandages and disinfectant." With that she straps on her board and moves out.

Kalifa calls, "You seem different from before."

"I'm an Admiral now, and time changes nouns, as in people."

Jabra calls out, "When we see each other again, let's have another fight to see who's the better wolf, like old times!"

Pet slaps her knee in her laughter, "You couldn't even touch me now!"

She's gone from their sight and she knows she has some calls to make when she gets back and try to pay a little visit to her best pal, Spandam.

* * *

She growls at the mushi, "Call it off, Spandam."

"Eh? Admiral Pet-san? They failed the World Government, they must be apprehended to answer to it."

Pet chuckles darkly, but she can't get rid of her snarl still in place, "If that's the case then you, the one in charge, must also answer. I'll take up the issue of your defiance to the top and see what they have to say about it. My word against yours, who do you think will win?"

The mushi starts sweating bullets as he stutters, "V-Very w-well, P-Pet-san."

**-gacha-**

Pet gets up from her desk at HQ to leave. Time for that visit she was going to grant them. It's been around a week since their going into hiding. She doesn't say a word to Aokiji when she passes him, the tension is still high between them.

She rides around for a bit before she stops and sits floating in the water on her board, a deep inhale as she casts her senses out. It's the middle of the night when the moon shines, it heightens her power, the power that was awakened with her teacher's help. _A troublesome price, but it comes in handy if you want to find someone and you have no idea where they could be in the world._

_It works better when the moon is out, as well, that way I won't get the headache as much._

A quick intake of breath and her eyes are open, she stands and starts her board to head to the island, _I found them._

_No enemy will ever be able to sneak attack you again, you'll see them coming a few miles away haha._

Pet smirks, _that is the idea._

She gets to the location in the morning. She exasperates at the crowd's gasping at Lucci's crushing the scull of a pirate Captain. She shakes her head as she appears behind him, "That's a bit much, don't you think?"

Lucci removes his foot, he seems surprised, but he never loses his scowl. "They told me you helped us get away."

Pet smiles at the agents' collective exclamations at her sudden appearance. "As far as anyone knows, I was helping with the search." Pet frowns at the crowd's decision to throw the agents out, she mutters, "You probably shouldn't stay here anyway."

Kalifa asks, "Did you talk to Spandam?"

Pet turns to her, "I did, but I don't think he's going to back off easily. There are ways to go around an Admiral's decision, you know. You guys will be fine. I'll do what I can, but he hasn't openly defied me, something tells me he will. You won't be able to come back to work at any rate."

Pet and the group start walking to the pirate ship. They decide to commandeer it and Pet sits on the rail while she talks with them. At the pestering of them, they ask her to look over Lucci's wounds to make certain the doctor's did their job, she reasoned defiantly, "He's awake, isn't he? What more do you want?"

She grumbles as she pokes him and looks behind the bandages before checking his bones. Finally, she nods and mutters, "He's fine, just nothing too exerting and he'll be as good as new."

Jabra cracks his neck, "So, Pet, are we going to do this?"

Pet squints at him, "I prefer not to get in fights I know I'll win." She laughs at his hurt pride and Fukuro cuts in, "Let me measure your strength then, chapapa."

Pet blinks at him, "Um, no, if I gave you a single punch using my full strength you wouldn't be able to calculate it. The scale, meaning you, would break." Pet winks as she hops up to balance on the rail, "I just came to check up on you guys one last time. I'm out though, maybe we'll see each other again someday? God, I hope not."

Pet lands in the water with her board beneath her and gets a distance away before she turns back and calls to Lucci, "Oh! Kitty cat! If you hurt my little brother ever again, I'll kill you!" Pet waves before speeding off.

The agents question each other, "Little brother?"

They jump away from Lucci as a dark aura exudes from his being, his eyes seem to glow red and his little pigeon even seems scared of him, "She still thinks to call me that..."

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Finished, yay! Alright, the beginning of the end, the war is next and Sabaody. I'm excited for them both. Review, Follow, Favorite, Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D

Also, I have so many One Piece stories in the works. Just sayin...

Like one with Law and Cora, a future three way with LawxKidxLuffy! AU

Then Willow, another OC woman

Lastly, I'm trying to write one for Shanks in an AU. He's going to high school! I haven't had time to really develop the story yet though.

Just too many stories in the works right now... So be on the LOOK OUT! See ya! I'll let you know via Author Note for this story when they're coming out!


	23. Unconquerable Will

**Author's Note:** :D So excited.

_Truly hope you Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 22

The world seemed to go quiet for a moment as an oppressive aura seemed to flow from the brown haired woman. Her reputation had preceded her as her features were clouded in convenient shadow. The room of Marine officials had long ago been silenced not even by a murmur from the woman, simply the strength of her will that threatened to break free. It was only until the whites of her eyes, followed by her glowing red irises, disrupted the darkness on her features that one could deduce they were previously closed. The form of her lips escaped their view as it was hidden behind her clasped hands. The ticking of the clock in the room was persistent in its telling the seconds of their lives they'd never recover as they waited for her to express herself.

They were all at their wits end when she simply stood up, the weaker crowd jumped back at her movement. The more capable or confident of spectators held their ground, but few succeeded in maintaining a calm demeanor. A jerk or twitch did not go unnoticed by one of the most perceptive characters. She wasn't in the mood for games or teasing, she deemed her stay impossible with her emotions threatening to get the better of her. She needed time to think everything over and decide her best course of action. This was a decision unlike the ones she made in battle, wherein battle it's either kill or be killed. This decision would consider her entire purpose of existing, her clan. Would she abandon her position on the premise of one family member's loss of life, so that all others would be thrown into the fray? The emotional side of her wanted to do just that, she was bold in the thought that she could overcome any obstacle and always come out on top. Yet, her rational side reasoned the best mode of protection was cooperating with the whims of the overreaching government.

The incident that set her on this line of thinking had finally come. A sort of strong dislike, she didn't want to admit it was hatred, formed at the first news of his predicament. He had been taken down by the man he was trying to punish, Marshall D. Teach. And now, those Navy bastards were leaning towards making his former prey a Shichibukai in response. Her hatred for him boiled the entire sea, he had put her in this spot, both Teach and Ace had. But her anger towards Ace could be masked by her concern and worry for him, she could hide it.

Her hands fell to her sides in her rise and exposed the set line of her mouth, one couldn't mistake the tensed muscles of her face as anything but anger swirling in her core. She did nothing to hide the sharpened points of her fangs, naked because of their length. She backed out and began walking to the door with no inclination of giving any word. One voice pulled her from her brooding, "Where do you think you're going, Pet?"

"I'm leaving." She had no desire to explain. Her hand, previously hovering over the door handle, grips it while she's forced to still for another moment.

"Is that all? No fight?"

Pet's hand strained on the handle and a loud crack can be heard throughout the room, the parts not in between her clutches fell to the floor. She turns back to them with a fiery glaze over her eyes as she holds her fist out, she turns it over and opens her palm as she inspects the dust with a disconnected feeling. "I'm going to go see my brother. Try and stop me," she challenges, their looks of trepidation goad her to promise, "I will not do anything rash, you have my word... That's good, isn't it? Unlike this here authority we work for, at least I've shown I won't go back on mine." She quiets before she turns back to the door, she allows herself one spectacle of her inner turmoil.

She steps over the rubble muttering, "Excuse me." That poor, unfortunate door, but it all started with the handle.

Not many have had the haphazard of witnessing her burning eye color, it seems to scorch any who fall under it, if they be of weak volition. She's just walking semi-casually through the halls and paths of HQ, still detached. Usually many call out to her, but on this occasion, even those having less wit about them have the primal instinct to steer clear, her eyes tell all.

The rest of her actions go by in a haze and once she's away from all the bustle of her workplace, she asks, _What should I do?_

_Are you asking me? Well, I say do as you like, and I think we'll agree on this one, let's have a party!_

Pet's eyes narrow as she expertly finds her way onto the Calm Belt, she's been told Ace had already been dropped off there for a few days. The seriousness has consumed her as she separates herself from her emotions. _Let's not do that. Besides, some Marines would probably escape and I don't think that would satiate me. I mean it, Daray, what do you think I should do? From the rational standpoint._

Daray sits on his bum in his meadow in the vast expanse of Pet's inner mind. His yellow eyes see the storm on the horizon, getting closer. He's in his natural form, he's a wolf. He looks down his charcoal muzzle at the blades of grass and occasional flowers surrounding him in thought. Once he's finished in his mulling over all the details, he lifts his sharp gaze to the blue skies. His eyes close as he answers truthfully, _Forget your Marine life. They're no better than crooks and I've never liked the way those old assholes, the Gorosei, look at you. If it suits them they won't uphold the deal... We share instincts, Pet, and ever since Vegapunk has figured out how to wipe the will of a person, both you and I have seen the data, we've been having blackouts. You and I can both assume what this means. It's a steady and imperfect process, but it's been happening. Get out, now, while you still can._

Pet hums, before she begins her reasoning, _This position still seems the best to have anyways. They won't go for the clan if I'm with them. It's more a decision between people I've bonded with or people I share blood with._

_Ah, see, my argument works for that as well. If your will and desire is out of the picture, they'll be able to do whatever they want. They can even have you go for your family. Plus, your family still doesn't deserve your help, they haven't earned the right to be loved by you or protected by you. Those boys saved you from a dangerous fate._

_I was fine? _

_You had your first loss, ever. Some might consider that normal, but I know you. I've been in your head since you were little. That mistake shouldn't have happened, you let it happen._

Pet frowns, _What of it? _It's true she could have acted quicker than she did, but she was fatigued with life. She didn't care for it anymore, just a robot. Nothing gave her joy, she only found herself spiting everything and everyone. She probably would have died if she wasn't found by Doflamingo and his crew. She even had the daring to risk her survival by declining asking any help from them.

_To add to my argument, that was after you had supposedly made up with your blood relatives. It was only after you went into a contract with three little boys to be siblings did your desire to live rekindle._

Pet dips her head in silence, her emotions are being backed with her logic, damn. _Will my being a Marine have been a waste?_ She wonders for her missing out on the many pirate crews to choose from. Should she have never made the deal in the first place?

_What, are you stupid? Of course not, baka! You're one of the most powerful people in this world and barely anyone realizes it, all because of your training to be the best Marine! Imagine what'll happen if your ancestor's genes ignite!? I think you're doing a much better job than her anyways._

The statue's face has broken! Pet cracks a small smile, _What's this? You're complimenting me?_

_E-E-Eeehhhh!? U-Uhhh n-no, baka! It's all an illusion! You're dreaming!_

Pet chuckles, _Thanks._ She comes to a stop outside the doors to the jail. Once they see her, the startled Marines hastily begin opening the door. _I'll hold off on making a decision. _Pet glides into the waters surrounding the structure and powers her board into flying above the docks so she can land with a firm stance on the stone. She walks in to be greeted with surprised faces and gasps. She nods at them and leaves her board in a safe place before taking the elevator to Ace's cell.

She walks past the calling of the other inmates with disinterest. Her heightened smell detects Ace's scent. The sound of her steps quicken before coming to a halt. Her smoldering eyes shift to the color of the sun as his intense stare meets hers. A few moments are spent as they wait, she can see into the dim and make out his condition. One hand on the door of the cage, the kairoseki gives her little discomfort, as she breaks the lock so it swings open. She walks inside and he still holds a look of shock at her breaking the door, "Sorry, I didn't plan on coming in, so I forgot to ask for the keys." She sees the chains holding him, "I can't remove those, otherwise they'd think I'm trying something." Her voice quavers unexpectedly as she takes a seat, cross-legged.

Ace sees the pain, "Nee-chan, you don't h-"

She holds her hand up to silence him, "I know." Without a word, she puts her hand on his arm, an inhale and he sees her yellow eyes shimmer blue. They glow and he notices his bleeding wounds stop and how much better he feels. Pet takes her hand away after she removes all traces of a fight. She blinks and he sees the yellow once more, "What happened, Ace-kun?"

He looks at his lap and only one sentence is explanation enough, "It was me or Luffy."

Pet's hand clenches, "I'm going to kill him, no matter the consequences. A pirate is a pirate." Pet's lip curls as she growls, "Blackbeard."

Ace doesn't say anything and they're disrupted when Magellan enters their line of view. His eyes have widened at the broken lock for the door. Pet calls, "What!?"

He snaps at her voice, "I got a call from Headquarters telling me to be wary of your arrival as you might try to break Fire-Fist out."

Pet glares at him, "Well, I'm not, sorry for the door. I forgot to get the key. You can go now."

Magellan scowls in return to her glare, "How long are you planning on staying?"

"As long as possible. Get lost, I won't try anything."

Magellan is reluctant to leave but awkwardly exits, anyhow.

Pet rolls her eyes at him before sitting against the wall to the right of Ace, she crosses her arms and leans back. A comfortable silence ensues, one that lasts for days.

* * *

Pet doesn't move or do anything while she sits with Ace. Occasionally, he'll look over at her but he won't see the bright eyes and decide to look elsewhere. Some time into the stay, they're joined by Jinbe. At his arrival, Pet moves for the first time since she first sat. Her teeth seem to catch the light as well when she smiles at him. They chain him up and Pet sees his wounds with a spark of anger. He asks, "What are you doing here, Pet-chan?"

Pet smiles at him, "I could ask you the same question, Jinbe-kun... But, I can guess the answer. I just didn't want my little brother to be alone in the dark for too long."

Ace growls, playfully, at her, "I was never afraid of the dark."

Pet holds her hands, "I never said you were afraid, but it seems I have to be afraid for you..." She turns her back on him as she walks up to Jinbe and pokes his arm. He sighs as all his wounds are healed. Pet walks back to her spot and sits in the same position she was holding before. Ace and Jinbe will speak to one another while Pet has excluded herself from any form of interaction at the moment. Ace tells Jinbe about his little brother. Pet doesn't pay attention as she continues moping.

They get more visitors much later, they come for Pet. She's unresponsive, however, as they inform her, "Pet-san, it's been a week and a half already. Sengoku-san wants you to get back to your job."

The jailers open the enclosure, "He meant it more as an order to get out, than a request, Pet-san."

Ace and Jinbe peer at her, they wonder why she's not moving. Pet is actually fighting a battle within herself and can't be bothered at the moment.

She stirs slightly when one of the visitors lightly shakes her shoulder, "Ah, man!"

"Hey, has she eaten or drank anything at all during this time?!"

"I don't think so?"

Ace starts to panic, "Nee-chan? Are you alright!?"

At his concerned voice, Pet comes back and her eyes open fully, "Just fine," she notices all the people and their faces, "What seems to be the problem?"

"How come you're suddenly alright!?"

Ace sighs, "Phew, I thought so, but I just wanted to make sure."

Pet smiles as she ruffles his hair, she turns to the others asking, "State your business here."

"Sengoku-san ordered us to tell you of his order for you to go back to HQ because it's your job."

Pet mutters so none can hear, "Not for much longer." She tells them, "Fine, I'll be out in a moment, leave us."

They all comply and she turns back to Ace still sitting, she crouches and stares at him, "Ace-kun, I'm not the type of person to believe that I'll always get what I want. I've lived too long in this life to ever think that, so I have to say this, okay?"

Ace frowns at her, "Alright, Nee-chan."

She sighs as her hand brushes his cheek, "In case I don't get the chance because of some unforeseen circumstance. I love you so much." Ace's eyes widen as he sees her getting choked up, "I don't care who your parents were, I care about you." She chuckles dryly, "You don't even realize how this situation could even be reversed because of my parents... You boys, all of you, are my real family no matter what anyone says, and I love you all for being there for me and caring about me." Ace continues staring at her, as he's never seen her cry or be so honest about herself. "I just wanted you to know, just in case."

Ace can't hide his own tears pooling at her words, he thinks, _she's like me._

Pet smiles and moves to press her lips to his forehead, she pulls away, "I love you, Ace-kun." She steps back and turns away to shut the door, she nods at Jinbe, but Ace grabs her attention once more.

He calls, "I love you too, Nee-chan."

She smiles at him and leaves.

* * *

Pet gets back and walks into Sengoku's office without a word of greeting. He growls at her, "Akainu and Aokiji are both out. We just received word from Saint Rosward that they want an Admiral because the Straw Hat's have injured Saint Charloss."

Pet freezes, Kizaru steps up, "I'll go, Sengoku-san."

Pet snarls, "I'll go too."

Sengoku orders, "You'll stay here, Pet. I can't trust that you won't do anything rash."

Pet turns to him with scarlet eyes, "You're already taking one little brother away from me, I won't let you take another."

Sengoku narrows his eyes, "This is your job."

Kizaru remains in the doorway. Pet turns her head before she hunkers down, "You keep saying that... Maybe I just have to quit."

Sengoku steps in, "Pet-"

Pet's had her anger building for far too long, she releases a shockwave of Conqueror's Haki that takes out those in range of her strong willpower. The two step away from her as she pants, "You will not threaten another of my brothers' lives."

Sengoku growls, "We'll do what we must to uphold justice."

That word, "justice," strikes a chord in her, she builds power before transforming into her towering wolf form and breaks floors and roofs in her growing. Her deep and terrifying voice vibrates the building, "You don't know the meaning of justice."

Kizaru and Sengoku stand at the ready to take her on, until Sengoku shakes his head, "I didn't want to have to do this, Pet, but you leave me no choice. I have but one question for you... Could you ever shoot the puppy, FUBAR?"

The monster Pet stills as her mind is silenced. Someone else takes her place, however, _Hey, Pet? Where'd you go? Is that the trigger? How come I'm not affected this time?_

Daray shrugs in his dying landscape as he steps into the control room. _Let's see what I can do then._

Kizaru remarks, "Pet's scary."

Sengoku raises a brow at the dormant skyscraper, "She's not supposed to be able to use her devil fruit power when like this..."

At his words, Daray poofs back into Pet's regular body. He lands with ease, but keeps all movements mostly robotic and his own yellow eyes shine. Sengoku looks her up and down, "Maybe Vegapunk fixed up her meds, take her with you Kizaru, and watch her fighting abilities. Decide there, if you two can part. We'll be sending the Pacifista in first, along with Sentoumaru."

Kizaru shrugs, "Follow me, Pet-san."

Daray follows close behind as he mulls over the details. _So that's the trigger, it seems it'll take a lot more to break her out of this than we thought. So that's why she stopped taking the meds, seems like there's some leftover effect from them though, but those effects can't reach me now. Smart Pet._

Daray is an expert in zombie Pet mode, _How to break her out?_

Daray hides his annoyance with Kizaru using the wrong mushi to contact Sentoumaru. He doesn't do anything until Kizaru orders Pet, "Finish those two off." He's referring to the two pirates who thought they could gain a name for themselves by challenging an Admiral without any idea of what an Admiral's range of power looks like.

Daray fazes out and appears in front of them when they run, a punch using both hands is dealt to either and they fall unconscious with probable concussions. Kizaru continues walking and Daray appears behind him to follow once more. "Your fighting seems fine."

Daray smirks from behind him as they continue on their path and come across a few more pirates where Kizaru purposefully misses and blasts one of the trees. Daray frowns at the massive display of power, _W__as that really necessary? I mean, come on._

Kizaru just sends Pet to finish them in the end. Afterwards, Daray recognizes Hawkins from his Wanted Poster. The little fucker uses his cards to determine probabilities while Kizaru asks if they've seen Sentoumaru. Daray rolls his eyes at them both, _Idjits._

Hawkins tells him abruptly, "I do not know that man. Ask someone else."

Then Kizaru shows his intent to not allow Hawkins to leave while Daray stifles a yawn. Kizaru kicks him with those lightspeed kicks he's famous for, while Daray follows his every move and even has time to watch Hawkin's flight path. The other Admiral blows up Hawkins, but Daray senses he's not down yet, A_ devil fruit user?_ As Hawkins gets up, another Supernova shows up as he falls in between the Admiral and fellow Supernova. Daray trains himself to hold his stoic face, _H__ow does Pet even do this!? This is too funny to not laugh. That guy is fucked! He seems so weak to me! Who am I kidding, they're both screwed! HAHA!_

Daray watches when X Drake enters the scene. "Is this all the power you have?"

Urouge frowns at him, "This guy again."

Daray blinks when X Drake notices Pet, "I didn't mean to meet Kizaru, and Pet's here too." Something stirs in Pet, Daray frowns inwardly, _T__hey were good friends before he left. She even helped cover his trail. Maybe..._ Daray's eyes narrow at X Drake, he feels Pet's heart jolt at the sight of him, instinctual reaction. He simply watches the rookies from the back as each show a bit of their strength. Urouge first grows into a mega man with large muscles and he takes on the Pacifista. Daray blinks at him with no surprise that all these rookies are having so much trouble, give them a couple years and these things will be a piece of cake, but the plan is to make sure they don't get that far. Pet pretty much planned for this with Vegapunk.

X Drake transforms next and Daray refrains from smiling at the sight, it's been a long time since Pet and him have seen that form, they were in battle together. He has to transform back when the Pacifista's beam sears a hole in his leg. Daray must again assert his control in reining Pet's natural reactions back in. _If you're going to go, then go all the way, damn it! Get your ass back here if you don't like that a friend of yours is hurting!_

He holds his peace behind Kizaru and his yellow eyes show no emotion, although there's an occasional flicker of red that he pushes out with his yellow. He had to admit, Pet went through a lot of trouble to help Drake, she agreed with his point of view on the Marines and made sure his escape was flawless.

Daray is pulled back to reality as Hawkins begins attacking the Light human. Kizaru retaliates by shooting multiple lasers at him, Daray's lips curl into a wicked grin, none can see though. _This idiot's going to die, HAHA._ The desire to see blood and carnage has never left Daray, he expresses his wishes more readily than Pet. Unfortunately, the unfolding scene is disturbed by Scratchmen Apoo, he digs the music at least, but figured it was actually an attack. He notes the cuts forming on Pet's body, _Hey! What did I ever do to you?_ Daray jumps slightly when Kizaru's upper half orders from the ground, "Get him, Pet-san." Daray appears behind him as they're both midair between buildings. Nobody notices the look of pleasure as he kicks him forward only to appear in front of him with a downward kick, mighty enough to crumble the entire building as well as crack the surrounding from the release of power.

Daray lands in front of the building as he sees X Drake has been downed as well as Hawkins. Kizaru is going for the finishing blow only for his den den mushi to ring. Daray calms, but feels Pet's heart wrench at the mention of Luffy as one of their targets. Kizaru looks at her and decides that he will take care of the Straw Hat crew while he'll send Pet with the Pacifista to take care of Law and Kid. Daray smirks inwardly, _The perfect chance. Law should be enough to free Pet. The Navy doesn't know about his and her relationship. I may just be able to break her out with a little provocation._

Daray walks away after Kizaru carefully explains Pet's orders. He takes the Pacifista with him, when he's out of range or sight from other Marines, Daray laughs with an evil grin, "Don't worry Pet, I have just the thing in mind to get a reaction, unlike that old Prince, I know that if I want a response from you all I have to do is dangle the life of someone you care about. It's sadistic, I know, but in the end, we're both a bunch of sadists."

Daray picks up speed with the Pacifista tailing him. Daray seems to materialize in front of the two pirates. He recognizes Law with a smirk and feels the familiar pulse racing of Pet's. The Pacifista goes to attack, but Daray orders, "Back off, they're mine." It complies and Law holds his nodachi in front of him, "So you were the Admiral they sent."

Daray eyes the other for a moment, a new face, his name is Eustass Kid. The highest bounty of the Supernovas, Pet would get infuriated with the stories on him since he didn't mind civilians getting in the cross fire.

Kid starts drawing metal to him, _Oh? An interesting ability._ Kid mutters, "I didn't want to meet an Admiral."

Daray laughs, "I'm afraid they sent me with another. Kizaru's the Admiral in charge, I'm just following orders." Daray cracks his neck, _Now, Pet, you're going to have to take control if you don't want me to kill Law-kun!_ A growl erupts from his throat as he steps below Kid's outstretched arms and deals a punch straight into his gut, the younger spews blood as he flies at alarming speeds across the grove. Daray turns to Law with a devious smile, Law's face portrays shock and Daray hears his crew mates call out. One leg extended, Daray doesn't hold back as he swipes Law across his stomach as well and commits him to the same destination as Kid, however, Daray appears beneath him and pushes both palms out across his back as he flies into the sky. Daray challenges, as he feels his pulse quicken and his heart lurch, _You better get out here, Pet! I'm not sure how much more he can take!_ Daray frowns slightly, but his fangs glint as their crew mates surround him. "I was thinking of sparing the underlings, but I'm afraid I'd still have to take Killer-kun with me, what with the bounty and all. Technicalities, really..." Daray chuckles as he's in the air with flames licking the grass. He disappears from the skies as he appears behind the one who fired, literally he spewed fire from his mouth, Daray knees his head and buries him in the ground, head first. Daray dodges the blades of Killer who's cursing Pet.

Daray's hands spread with claws extending, "It's only fair." Daray's claws begin to glow with concentrated moonlight as he swipes Killer across the chest. The wounds sizzle and he lets loose a howl of pain, Daray grabs him by the tatters before he falls on his still rotating blades. Once they stop, he lets him fall to the ground with a groan; of course the movement was too quick for anyone to think that Daray had just shown an ounce of concern. His eyes lock onto the lesser pirates still coming. Their Captains seem to be taking a long time to get up from one measly punch. _Pet... I may have already killed him... But I didn't mean too! Aren't you going to say something!? Don't just stay there, wake up! Once I'm done with these chumps I'm going for him!_ Daray growls in frustration as he deals another kick to the strange bear, then kung fu slices across the air with his remaining moonlight on his other hand so that the giant, Jean Bart, steps back with a deep gash.

Daray's sunlight eyes radiate on the remaining pirates. He tches before ordering, "PX-2, apprehend those pirates using any means necessary. I don't have Pet's patience to deal with small fry." He turns his attention to the two walking towards him. Law fares the worst as he was dealt more. Daray stands to Pet's full height, as his smile grows, "Rookies always think they're the top, until they meet someone at the top. I'm sorry, I'm actually just trying to wake her up with your pain, but she seems to be really stuck in there, ya know, Law-kun, drugs and all. Especially Vegapunk's haha. That bastard sure does make life difficult."

Daray shakes his head as he watches the two get ready for battle as they both pant heavily. Kid holds up his arms and wheezes as he draws more metal to him, Daray's expression changes, _Fine, Pet, sit tight and watch me kill them both, real slow. See how you like that, Sleeping Beauty._ He appears behind them both with his eyes in the skies, "Wonderful weather we're having..." They freeze and cuts appear across their bodies. Daray holds his hands behind him and they drip with the young pirates' blood. Daray steps on Kid's back, Kid gasps, but Daray snickers, "You thought." Kid's back merely pops, Daray removes his foot, building up the tension. He knows Pet is having some sort of reaction since her heartbeat is haywire while he's fighting his own limbs, _I'm going to need a little more, Pet._ He kicks Law onto his back so Daray can see his pathetic features. One clawed index finger points at him, Daray's lip curves slightly as he jabs him and blood begins flowing from the wound.

Law wheezes, "What are you doing, Pet-san?" He only manages one eye open and Daray is over him, push-up position with bent knees on the ground, he's semi-straddling him, as he draws his right hand back and it changes it into a fist. _This'll be the last one, Pet._

Daray grimaces as shadows cover his eyes before they open and he begins the downward trek for a mighty punch, _Forgive me, P-_ His eyes widen as Pet's heartbeat sounds in his ears and he feels the blood rushing, a deep yet feminine voice resounds, and his fist quivers as she takes over, _You think I'll let you get away with this, Daray-kun?_ He's pulled away from the wheel as Pet takes her place as rightful owner of her body. Her eyes focus on Law, he's turned away with his eyes closed as he expects the end. Pet dishes the punch to the ground beside his face and power resonates across the ground.

She pants and he looks up at her in surprise as he feels a drop of liquid fall onto his face. His eyes widen when he notes the blood trailing from her eyes. "P-Pet?"

She gets off and her breath gets steadily heavier. Her eyes continue to focus and refocus as her sight gets hazy. _Damn, I guess the meds finally wore off._ Her head is killing her. Pet gets up shakily, but doesn't make it as she falls to cough up blood. Law tries to sit up, "Pet? What happened? I though-"

Pet growls, "Shut up, as if I'd ever kill you." She shakes almost imperceptibly before she hears the cries of terror as their crew mates left standing dodge attacks from PX-2. The array of explosions make her breathing clear and her vision becomes tinted red as if everything were made of lava. She blinks at its going to shoot more beams, then veins on her forehead become defined as her whole face narrows at it. A volcano shoots forth in the middle of Daray's landscape. He smiles at its exhibition. She changes, the two Supernova Captains jump at the appearance of a wolf larger than a normal full-grown Alpha male. Her bulk boasts muscles of steel as she lets loose a growl enough to drive a person mad from fear.

She disappears in a wisp, but the shift of air between them does not go unnoticed as they both move to look behind them, fearing for their nakama's lives. Her intent to kill was obvious, but her target surprised them. She clung to the back of it, digging in her Velociraptor claws. Sparks began to fly from them and she chomped down with her muzzle large enough to reach the Pacifista's chest and back. Each millisecond led to more power in her crushing jaw and soon enough, to the eyes of those around her, she bit down enough for the whole thing to explode. She jumped back and changed midair, spitting before they see her wiping her mouth and sticking her tongue out, "It's no good if there isn't enough blood."

Pet stands and extends her senses to search the groves while all the pirates stare at her. They all have collective remarks of Admiral level. But Pet is beyond that level already. She puts Daray on the job of finding her little brother as penance for hurting Law-kun while she diverts her attention to the surrounding pirates. She smiles sheepishly while scratching the side of her head, "Would it mean anything if I said sorry?" Some sweat drop while others merely fall over at the sudden change.

Kid calls, "What are you talking about!?"

One of Law's crew exasperates, "Aren't you going to kill us?"

Pet shrugs, "I could do that, but I'd rather let you all go... Unless you don't want that?" She squints at them with a questioning air. "Besides, I didn't really want to fight anyone here in the first place, but them Headquarters really like to have control over everyone. Makes it really hard to fight the power." She laughs to herself, but the pirates are disbelieving, she notes one of the two Daray did the most damage to, a masked guy with long hair. She frowns at him as he hasn't moved from where Daray left him, makes sense since he cut him with one of her strongest powers. She tends to leave the moonlight out of it and save it for a rainy day, like if she wants to go into her modes without the moon being out.

Kid tries to crawl forward as she begins walking to him, "Oi, fight me! You bitch!"

Pet twitches at the name calling, but proceeds as she crouches by the wheezing man, she ticks before putting her hand over his, her eyes modify to blue. The Kid Pirates call out but seem to have tiny amounts of fear for their own lives. The five slashes stop bleeding and heal to an extent before Pet retracts her hand and huffs, "Well, I figured you guys didn't want him to die before he could be treated." She walks over to Jean Bart and does the same treatment. Her eyes always shift back to red even when she's looking at Law, they don't change.

Pet smiles at him as she walks towards the two and sits cross-legged in front of them, she pokes their foreheads and they begin healing to the point where they can carry themselves. Pet grins, "The least I could do." Pet turns to Kid and admires him for a moment and sizes him up, Daray tells her about his power. Pet blinks at him and he seems to be thinking about insulting or challenging her once more. She grins while threatening, "If you call me bitch one more time, I'm going to cut your heart out right now and show you it." If he could be anymore, Kid pales, and seems afraid of the woman, she continues while laughing and patting his shoulder, "My name's Pet, Eustass-kun. I don't want to kill you because you know my little brother now. A precious rival of his and he'd probably be upset with me if I murdered you, so I'd rather not."

Law smirks as Kid sits back, he's been utterly silenced from all the confusion of the day's events, although Law is missing information as well. Pet turns to him, "I'm going to have to go beg Cora for forgiveness for hurting you. I have an explanation, but I'd prefer not to give it..." Law quirks a brow as he frowns, she waits for a sign of curiosity, but he shows none, then voices, "I am sorry for going too far..." She knows he won't openly forgive her, but she sees a glint of the forgiveness in his eyes. Afterwards, she stands and the two as well, "You both should get out of here. Take your nakama and go into hiding for a bit. I have some other business to attend to."

With that, she stalks off and disappears in another wisp.

_I've found them._

* * *

"I couldn't even... save a single one of my nakama..."

A great sonic boom deafens the entire archipelago. Kuma just finished sending Luffy off when another boom is heard before all hell breaks loose. She growls on all fours as he breaks through multiple mangroves, she held nothing back, as she stands and her flaming eyes turn on Kizaru. He takes a step back, "P-Pet-san, y-you-" He doesn't finish as he's sent flying. She grabs the blade of the broadaxe and breaks Sentoumaru's guard as if she were crushing a fly, one swift punch to his massive stomach. Her eyes find Rayleigh and he holds his hands up with a trickle of sweat.

She recognizes him and refrains from stabbing the old man, she rumbles, "You were helping him..."

Rayleigh raises a brow, "Luffy-kun?"

Pet turns away as her eyes mark the path Kuma sent him... _He was helping... but..._ She snarls as she runs down the path of gargantuan trees and finds Kuma's end zone. She stands over him as blood and sparks fly, "You made him sound like that..." She tears her face away with a look of pain, _he was hurting so much..._

Pet remembers her anger and nudges him with her foot, "Apologize."

Kuma grunts as he coughs more blood, she grabs the front of his shirt holds him up so he can see her face, "Apologize now or I make you beg later."

He frowns as blood trails down his chin and onto her exposed arm, her lip quivers as it threatens to curl and show her fangs. He's never seen her like this before, he's never witnessed how much strength she never showed. Her eyes dart to the side as she mutters, "This isn't over." She throws him back as she bends backwards to avoid the beam of light, an attack from her dearest pal, Kizaru. She twists in her fall so she can catch herself on her hands before throwing herself at him, both soles of her shoes connect with his face and he flies once more as if Pet made him into a paper airplane. She grabs his ankle as he flies toward the water, "You won't escape me so easily, fucker." She swings him like a ragdoll before slamming him into the ground. She lets go and circles him, "It's not you, particularly, that I'm mad at, Kizaru, but you helped and went along with it. You all did, that just shows me how much I can't trust any of you. This was the last straw..." She stops next to him and places her foot on his chest, he already wheezes at her with his eyes cloudy.

Her entire being becomes serious and she applies pressure, his hands reflexively grip her leg as she gives more power. He coughs more blood as he gasps for breath, she feels his bones creaking and cracking slightly. She sighs as she removes her foot and smiles at Sentoumaru, he breathes, "You were under control! Where did Vegapunk go wrong?"

Pet barks laughter, "As if I'd ever give Vegapunk a full detail of my abilities! You'd think me mad if you knew about _**him**_!" Pet shakes her head and bares her teeth at the younger, "I've never trusted anyone involved with the Government about my full range of power. You'll have to experience it to measure it, and the conditions have to be in place... like when you make me angry. Vegapunk is really good, but the curse of my existence is... I'm ALWAYS better." Pet cackles as she centers moonlight energy on her extending claws. Sentoumaru gets into his battle stance, still thinking his guard will hold. Pet ticks as she appears behind him, his features morph into shock as major cuts and a gashes appear all over his arms, legs, chest and back. He falls with a thud and Pet walks back to the now standing Kuma.

She stops a short distance away from him, her eyes narrow, "You all played a part in making my little brother cry, but you were the cause of his deepest pain, sending away all his friends... Logic reasons I shouldn't be too mad because I know you were trying to help... but these red eyes," she points, "mean logic doesn't really have a say right now..." She grits her teeth, "Unforgivable!" She bursts forward with her fists pulled back behind her, her style of Luffy's bazooka. Her fists connect with Kuma's pads, she's never seen him drop his bible before. She smirks when he's forced back some with dirt collecting at the backs of his shoes, but a fraction of Pet's force is redirected back to her and she scrapes back a bit too.

Once her inertia is restored, she glares daggers at Kuma before her eyes widen as something seems to zap her or something breaks. She falls forward with a fading conscious, on her forward drop, she questions, _It wasn't an attack from anyone, I would've sensed them... That means..._

_Vegapunk was one step ahead, it was an attack from the inside._

She growls weakly until she notices she's no longer falling. Her heightened senses allow her to pick up a wheezy panting, and Kuma's voice penetrates the enshrouding darkness, "Sorry." If she didn't know any better, she'd almost say she smelled real remorse, but Kuma never gave off any scent she could tie to feeling. The curtains close on her before she can think any more on the subject.

* * *

"How'd you know?"

"Kuma-kun sent me a message."

Sengoku and Vegapunk discuss the apprehension of one Admiral Pet. She lays unconscious on one of Vegapunk's steel tables, no restraints or anything. Vegapunk sighs as he runs his hand through his hair, "I don't know how this happened. She shouldn't have been able to overcome the drugs, but she did, almost quite easily. I gave her a more concentrated dose to keep her in that state if she wakes up, I doubt we'll see another miracle where she breaks through."

"We assumed you had fixed her no fighting capabilities."

Vegapunk shook his head, "Essentially, she should be able to fight in that state, but for some reason her devil fruit power, which makes up a great amount of her strength, just isn't responding."

"Sentoumaru said she kept things about her power secret."

"I know it's not a Zoan, but she'd never tell me what it looked like or the name. She just said it was a Paramecia type and never spoke of it again."

"And without all the facts you can't even begin to make a compound that would take care of it."

"Exactly, look who's learning!" Vegapunk nudges the Fleet Admiral, but he is an unyielding stump.

Sengoku clears his throat before moving on, "We'll have to just have the other three out then for Ace's execution, for when Whitebeard shows up. How's Kizaru's injuries coming along?"

Vegapunk frowns, "He should be up to full by then, but she really did a number on him... It was surprising... I don't think I've ever seen such a one sided outcome. Pet came out with zero injuries, the only blood on her clothes was the others. Apparently, she destroyed PX-2 and let Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid escape. She must've came to with them."

Sengoku frowns, "We'll keep her out of sight and on standby for the execution and deal with the aftermath."

Vegapunk watches Sengoku begin to leave before he calls out, "Sir, if I may, I don't think we'll be able to program her like the Pacifista... If she were to come out of this... I don't think we'd ever be able to get her back to normal."

Sengoku nods before leaving Vegapunk's lower floor.

_What will we do then? _Sengoku can barely imagine what Pet will do when she awakens, for now, Vegapunk is going to keep her in a paralytic state with her mind deterred but her movement functional.

* * *

_I can't breathe! Everything is crushing me! _

Her body seems to hold at a consistent depth, too far below the ocean's surface to glimpse any rays of sunlight. She knows she's angry about something, and it's someone's fault for her current position, but her thoughts are kept as murky as the surrounding water. She has the instinct sharks are circling her but she can't see them. She must wait.

She opens her cloudy eyes as she dreams. Passing faces and memories of their scents. She struggles when Doflamingo enters her mind and Hancock. Her anger seems to boil the water around her, but it cools slightly when Hawk-Eyes enters. They're far away, but she can hear their voices and catch the faintest hint of their distinct odors.

She can't pinpoint her panic when she recognizes the faintest voice, "Whitebeard is my father!" She floats higher as she smiles, _Ace-kun,_ but it's turned upside down. She can't remember why she needs... What does she need to do? More faces fill her vision, yet, something wraps around her stomach to drag her back under, farther and farther away from the surface, from reality.

* * *

Daray's claws click on the surface of the water, _Why do I always have to get her out of these situations? For some reason, I'm coherent this time, too._ Daray's forelegs begin digging at the surface of the ice, he sees her silhouette past it, but this isn't normal ice, it feels like glass. Daray morphs into his human form on his hands and knees peering into the depths. He calls, "Pet! Get your sorry ass out here! Ace's execution is beginning!"

...

"Pet! Here girl!" He makes smoochy noises as if he were calling a dog.

...

Daray's pounding on the glass laying against it, "Pet! Luffy just showed up!" He maintains their connection to send her what he sees, hears, and smells. Pet moves closer at his wireless transmission. She's closer than before, at least.

Daray calls, "They're going to kill them both if you don't come out... Please, Pet... I need your help."

Daray frowns as he begins punching the glass with both his muscled arms, they have no effect.

He whimpers slightly, continuing his beat down, "God Damn it, Pet! You bitch, cunt, motherfucker! Get the fuck out here already!" He knows Luffy's bleeding and the sounds of war are bringing her closer, but he needs her aware already, he assumes not all his telepathic messages are coming in loud and clear. He growls, "I'm not the one doing the dangling here! If something bad happens, it's not my fault! Come out already! I know we usually can't go for a swim, but this is ridiculous!"

Daray hears the fight moving closer to the scaffold and he stops every once in a while to turn fully to the sky as he has heart attacks every time Luffy takes a beating or when they almost execute Ace. Whitebeard isn't faring so well either. "Your oyaji is going to die if you don't do something, do you even care? I thought you cared about these people!? What are you doing here!? Wake up!" His view of her is covered now, his knuckles bleed as he continues to punch the glass. Her visage is hidden by the thick red liquid. He paws at it but freezes. He sits back with a smile, "Maybe you don't need to come out after all?" He sits back and watches, _Luffy did it!? They're not out yet, but Ace is free... maybe they'll win this? ..._

He was so wrong, he stood up in his shock as the smell of burning flesh bombarded his sensitive nose. He took a step back before shaking his head, his hands grab his head, he shakes, "Hey, you stupid cunt, the fugliest sleeping beauty ever, get a load of this." He shares the pleasant images with her, everything, he throws it all at her in one go, all the war. He shifts back and howls. As he does, the glass he stands on seems to shake and cracks as she rouses. Their surroundings change in a big bang scenario. The volcano that appeared in his landscape reappears and erupts to coat her inner world in lava. One meteroite lands in front of him, he narrows his eyes at it, "About freaking time."

It blows up and Pet stands there, the shadows about her are more defined. Her eyes open and he matches their vibrant red with his yellow.

Pet blinks once, "I'm going on a rampage... Do you mind?"

"Do as you like, as long as I get to watch."

She nods and lifts her contorted features to her inner skies, a war howl erupts from her throat to break any and all forms of submission. Her will is the will of a Conqueror, and she cannot be stopped. It carries out and she must reconquer her own nerves and attack those who have stood in her way for far too long.

They wanted a war, they're about to get one.

* * *

**Author's End Note:** AAhhh, I'm quite content with the way this is going so far. Let me know what you guys think and I'll probably finish the story next chapter. Review and all that goodness. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	24. An Ending Like A Beginning

**Author's Note: **I know you all probably hate me. I swear I have good reasons, a lot, that I'm not going to list cuz it'd be a long list. Alrighty, I haven't slept because I've been up writing this chapter. Like, I did most of the writing today and all of the editing... And I go over it like three times. But I gave a longer chapter this time, so yay!?

Yada yada, lots of characters, too long a list, too tired to look for them all.

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 23

"Man, we must have the worst of luck!"

"How so?"

"I really wanted to fight against all those pirates, and Whitebeard's fighting too! Yet, here we are, guarding an Admiral!"

One of the two nods, sadly, "They said she probably wouldn't wake up, but they don't want to take any chances."

"This blows! We should be out there!"

"Definitely would be a great story to tell the kids, a first hand visual of Ace's execution."

"The world will be better off for it, at least."

"It'll be a definite blow to pirates every where!"

The two Marines stand guard with rifles across their chests held steady. Occasionally, a tremor will be felt and they'll hear buildings collapsing in the distance. These two poor souls have their backs to the room, the cell which holds a devil. Vegapunk was confident enough to ensure her previous escape was an anomaly, never to happen again, therefore, they left her standing at attention in the middle of the small room. She has no chain nor bars, the only bars that can stand a chance are those in her mind. Unfortunately, she was never someone to be trifled with on any field.

A low moan carries through the thin walls. The two gulp as they look at each other, she can't have-? Could she? They open the door and tumble inside only to come face to face with the monster lurking within.

She is a figure cloaked in shadow, the only light comes from the hall and illuminates her new-found enemies, but it can't save them. From the darkness of her form, two red orbs shine on them. They are the embodiment of the fire burning and consuming her soul, if she still had one. A low growl echoes throughout their fragile minds, already, their blood has started rushing and they can only hear their fleeting heartbeats. They only get one more beat to add to their existence before they cease. They never even knew what was happening, it was all too quick. Ace's blood has barely been spilled, Akainu's fist has yet to fully exit his body. In this moment, the Demon Wolf buried both of her fists in the chests of those on the floor then she's gone.

She left them with one last sight, as soon as they saw those eyes, however, they had resigned to their fate. She'll never show any Marine mercy again, they're all dead to her now.

A shift of the air and it's as though she has teleported above Akainu, they've just barely begun to call out to Ace. They can't accept this deadly development. She can smell their fear, worry, and the ever growing despair. She faces the ground from her aerial position, one leg sticks out and she twists playing kickball with his head. He goes flying into the air as she loses altitude. The spectators have no time to react to the fact of Ace's nearing end, but she knows, both her wolf and doctor sensibilities tell her so. It's too late, she can't heal him, she could only prolong his life for a few more moments.

The battlefield quiets as their eyes take in the spectacle, Akainu is midflight, by the time they catch up, she's touching down on the ground ready to push off and deal another blow. None could've expected this, Whitebeard's eyes narrow as he wonders where she's been this whole time. The strongest man in the world, himself, upon looking at her visage can't stop the feelings of relief that she's not his enemy. This feeling sprouts not only because he considers her one of his children, but also because the look of boiling fury on her face is enough to send every man cowering. He witnesses her sudden appearance and display of anger in burying her enemy. She lands with her back to Ace and Luffy, she won't look back. She crouches on three limbs and a free hand with claws fully extended. She growls fiercely, words escape her, one desire pulses through her every fiber, **revenge.**

The pirates and Marines share some similar reactions and Sengoku steps forward gritting, "Pet! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" When really, he's angry that she didn't stay put, it's a secret in the top circle, what they did to her.

Crocodile smiles with his cigar between his teeth, "I was wondering where she was."

"Fufufu, this is going to be a party." Doflamingo folds his hands together.

Hancock is focused on other things. Mihawk frowns at her, he too wonders where she has been. Since the start of the war, many of her acquaintances, friends, allies have wondered where in the hell Pet had slunk off to. They all gathered she was more of a front-line attacker.

Pet blinks at the Fleet Admiral and stands to her full height, "What does it look like, baka? I'm fighting for my family?" Her smile shows her disconcerting canines.

Sengoku narrows his eyes, "You're a Marine, they're pirates, when will you understand?"

Pet's laugh is devoid of humor, she pulls off her Admiral jacket and throws it in the air, she unsheathes her katana and fragments fly in the wind. She re-sheathes and smiles widely at him, "Understand? Consider this my notice of resignation."

Sengoku clenches his teeth and the Marines are speechless. Aokiji calls out, "Oi, oi, Pet-chan, aren't you acting a little too-"

Pet slaps her knee in her laughter and holds her stomach, before her entire demeanor changes to serious, "You pieces of shit drugged me to keep me out of this fight. Did you think I'd calm down after everything? You wanted to rid the world of a major threat? Ha ha, don't make me laugh! You really ought to redefine major." Her clawed index finger points behind her to her dying brother, "Compared to me, he's a minor threat, and I'm about to show you why."

Akainu stands laughing despite the blood at his chin, "So, your true colors have finally shown, Pet. I'll finish you off too."

Pet shakes her head at him, pitiful, "It's starting to get really sad how you think you can stand on par with me, little dog."

Pet's smile changes to a frown as her selective hearing malfunctions, Luffy's voice reaches her. He's calling for help and running out of options. Ivankov finally informs him, "Ace-boy is beyond saving..."

Luffy shakes his head and his gaze turns to the final option, the person standing past the doctor, facing all the opponents he never could beat, and with a smile. Luffy calls out, "Nee-chan! Ace is hurt! Please help him! Hey! You can, right!?"

Pet's strength diminishes in one instant at his pleading. She'd never wish one of her own to be reduced to this, but Luffy isn't mature enough to accept the loss of his precious ones. She knows she will have to be the one to knock down his last pillar of hope, never before has she ever felt such a strong aversion to do what must be done. She doesn't want to be the one to break his heart. He continues to call out to her with growing desperation, she grits her fangs as her fists clench. Blood drips down them and she turns to him. Her face is covered in shadow as she walks to him, past the doctor, and stops at their shoulders, she gets on her knees, Luffy has a clear view of her eyes. Her red eyes pierce his soul as he is forced to reckon with her rigid seriousness. She can't help the slight quiver in her voice, "There's nothing I can do, Luffy-kun." It kills her inside to say it, prolonging his life would be meaningless and amount to nothing if she can't bring him back. If it were a full moon then she could possibly trade places, but who would protect them from the Admiral's power?

Luffy has to face facts, Ace is dying. "Didn't you promise me? You... said you'd never die...didn't you!?" Pet frowns, _a child's promise and one that is impossible to keep... _Luffy screams to the heavens, "Ace!"

Ace speaks, Pet sees his sightless eyes, the strain is too much. She places her palms over one of their shoulders. Her eyes don't change from red, instead they're mixed with blue, glowing a muddy purple. The edge is taken off them both. She can't give them her full attention, otherwise she wouldn't be able to stop herself. Her senses focus on the battle surrounding them; the Admirals, Sengoku, Garp, and Whitebeard are constantly positioned in her mind.

She's not hearing anything about Ace's feelings for Dadan because of his acceptance of his death, Ace's regrets and his life choices, his desires, nor the answer to his lifelong question: Was it good that I was born? After all that, Pet's own attempt to steel herself fails, she can't help the tears clouding her vision. She bites her lip as Ace continues, "I can't... say it loud enough for everyone to hear. Please pass on... what I'm about to say... Oyaji... Everyone... And you two, Luffy, Pet... Even though... I'm so worthless... Even though... I carry the blood of a demon..." That word strikes a chord in Pet, but her defiance is squashed by her sadness, "Thank you... for loving me!" Pet's heart snaps in two as Ace tries for a smile through the tears, but slumps. Pet's hands don't falter in laying him gently down as she still strokes his scraggly hair. Tears stream down her cheeks and she looks at Luffy. Her heart is officially separated into fourths when he starts crying uncontrollably, to the point he's screaming.

Pet wipes her arms across her eyes as she looks at him, she stands and one hand over his forehead, he's silenced as she puts him into a deep sleep. Her reformed red eyes glare at the approaching Akainu's punch, he intends to kill her other brother, as if she'd let that happen. She walks as he goes to punch her, she grabs his magma fists. Steam rises from where her skin meets the magma as she grabs his other fist and they stand in a locked battle of strength. Pet's lowered eyes raise as she pushes back with a roar, "Step away from my family!"

Marco orders, "Jinbe! Get Straw Hat away from here-yoi! Straw Hat's survival was Ace's final wish! We will absolutely protect him in Ace's place! If we let him die, it will be the Whitebeard Pirates' greatest shame!"

Pet's focused on Akainu at the moment, so she can't spare a sigh at their rallying, she risks one look back at them all, they all cringe momentarily as Pet threatens, "Stay out of my way."

Akainu draws her attention as he utters, "I thought I said I wouldn't let either of them escape!" Magma pools and shoots out from behind him.

Pet smirks as she voices, "Pack Formation." Her eyes seem to burn with fire as another shift in the air occurs. A line up of wolves have formed and they all stand to defend to retreating pirates, as in sync, they all lower their great heads and howl, the magma is blown back and flies to burn holes in the Marine's ranks.

They're all shocked, Akainu has an ounce of fear instilled in him as he witnesses the crazed gleam in Pet's eyes, "When did you-?"

Pet taunts, "Better be careful where you're directing that magma, little dog." She chuckles before her eyes narrow, Akainu raises a brow when she orders, "Let loose." Her control over the wisps of wolves loosens as they all charge into the ranks of the Marines with some hanging back to growl menacingly. She jumps back as Whitebeard towers from behind her opponent and uses one of his quake punches to deal extensive damage to him. Since Pet has the time, she grins at the Marines standing, too afraid to challenge her wolves, "One step towards a retreating enemy and I'll kill you myself!"

As Whitebeard engages Akainu, Pet steps back. The ground in front of her is rubble as she meets eyes with Kizaru. He tried to get her with his light-speed kicks. She claws the projectiles from Aokiji out of the air. Flipping back to get some distance, she smiles, "Two on one, normally it wouldn't be fair, but I'd say this is still going to be a one-sided fight."

Her eyes are on fire as she steps to the side while reaching out and grasping Aokiji's fist, she pulls so his arm extends and uses his resistance to add to her force in kicking Kizaru's cheek and swiping him aside in the process. She curls in and brings her knee to knock Aokiji's side. Tremors are sent through his body, but Kizaru finished his crash landing from the force she dealt him. He's back in an instant to bring his foot down on her stomach. He smiles slightly, to himself, when cracks spread from the impact into a massive crater. His smile dissipates, however, when he catches her smirking with both her hands holding his foot. He tries to wrench it from her grip, but her eyes peer up at him and she turns while lifting herself from the ground as he follows her spiral and he, too, buries into an even deeper crater. She lets go to spin over him and land in a crouch with her fists up, ready for Aokiji to continue. He doesn't falter and she dodges his attacks easily, by doing a cartwheel at high speeds while ice tries to catch up with her. She pushes off with her hands and the ice covers the ground beneath her, but she takes a deep breath. The cold affects the air and her breath billows before she howls while perpendicular with the ground. She flies up and adds a spiral, when she's reached the highest point she can go, she has a good view of the battlefield. Akainu fights Whitebeard, their battle is heating up nicely. Jinbe and Luffy are escaping, her heart beat slows when she sees the pirates still falling. They're not all bad people, some of the Marines she's met are even worse. For them, she will summon all her power into a blast to aide them. She's on her downward trek already as she frames her face and her temples, taking another breath before roaring towards the heaven's. The shockwave is carried across the battlefield, all who are weak of will fall to her own. She is a Conqueror and all will tremble from her mere will. She falls and lands with a smirk, she has perfected targeting enemies with that attack. Most of the Marines fall or shiver in their steps, some pirates she deemed likely to try to kill them in this state got a taste of her threat to flee with their lives.

Her wolves from before evaporated a bit after her entry into the fight with two other Admirals. She will not tolerate any prolonged fighting, she wants it to be over with. She lands on ice and it covers her. She breaks it with ease and a momentary lapse of vision causes her to be off guard when Aokiji comes in with his little ice sword. She's too late to dodge when it stabs her and leaves a chill in her blood. Her red eyes clash with Aokiji's, she notices the beads of sweat running down his face, and the grimace.

She catches the subtle, "Why did you have to wake up?"

Her lip curls as her clawed hand grabs his wrist and he lets the ice go as she pulls him closer and her other hand locks onto his neck, he's brought down a few inches so she can pull his face in to see her blazing fury. She growls, "Why did I have to be put out? Of all of them, Kuzan-kun, I thought I could trust you the most, but you were in on it..." Her face narrows as she grows angrier, he's shocked, "You stood by and helped kill my little brother, even going so far as to go for the other... They wanted to get rid of a threat?" She chuckles through her scowl, "You all just created a bigger one. I don't know when, but someday, I will walk up to whatever Marine HQ in the future... and I will burn it to the ground and trample all over your misguided sense of justice. I'll give you a taste of true justice... of revenge."

Her hands turn to ice and travel up her arms slightly before it shatters at her strength and she claws across his chest while backing away. She won't kill him, she can smell the uncertainty of his actions already. As an added bonus, her arm shoots out as he's moving away, she takes hold of his tatters and pulls him closer, and her upper tilts forth as her forehead connects with his. Nobody wins with a headbutt, except people with hard heads. Blood trails down Aokiji's face as he sees the pulsing fire and the flaring within her irises.

Suddenly, she's disappeared from his view, but he feels her foot connect with his chin from her position on the floor. Pet flips away and pushes off as she does an arc and lands on her feet watching every millisecond that he travels higher and higher until he's finally making way to the ground.

Pet isn't fazed in the slightest when multiple rays create tunnels straight through her. She turns to the risen Kizaru, he shifts from her stoic face, his lower lip out a bit. She always thought he looked like an idiot. His index finger is still pointed at her and lights to fire another. She pivots as the light shoots into the rubble. She moves in and draws her elbow into his jaw, another light beam cuts across her, but she hardened herself with armament haki so it couldn't go through. The worst it does is burn her clothes a bit.

She frowns, but then her attention is drawn elsewhere. Her hand goes to her mouth as tears begin brimming. The way the light falls to him like a God, his back showing his strength and proving his courage. No scars exist on his back, because he's never run from a fight, he's not even a swordsman. The tattoo that is shared by his crew shows and Pet can hint at the pride he held with it. Pet wipes her tears as an undying respect for this titan pools. She blinks and then notices Blackbeard and his crew moving toward him, she steps in, appearing in front of him, "I will not let you touch him." She growls, but something is off.

Blackbeard laughs, "Zehahaha! Step aside, Pet, you're looking a little tired there."

Pet's features deepen, her eyes are red, but her rage has lessened considerably. She's running out of fuel. "I have just enough strength to kill you, you're the reason." Pet looks away as she remembers, the blue waters are evaporated by her inner fire. She blinks and the light in her eyes has been renewed, her voice is demonic, "You're the reason my little brother died." She growls and moves to claw his throat out. She disappears before reaching him, Burgess tried to take a swing, she appears above him and just as her hand is about to pierce through his heart, a shot stops her. She grits her teeth as blood trails down her arm from where the bullet passed through it. She changes her attack decision as she senses another coming. Her hands spreads and she claws his back before pushing off so he buries in the rubble and she goes for their sharpshooter.

She twists to face the sky in her flight as she unsheathes both her swords to deflect Shiliew and Catarina. They stop her, from the combined force so she hits the ground. Her fangs and eyes glint, she passes her gaze on Catarina as she laughs at her, Pet smiles through her anger, "What are you laughing about, fugly bitch. I'll show you something to laugh about, Crescent Moon Hunter was your name, correct?" Pet's swords begin to glow, "Consider me the Full Moon." She disappears from under them once more, her speed has always aided her in these situations. Yin slices across her back as well and she's shocked by this new development. These pirates have underestimated her far too much.

Pet is in battle stance and Yang still glows. She smiles, "Don't count me in with all those other Admirals, and you all just got lucky with Whitebeard. Catch him on a good day and you're all dead meat, but you didn't, huh?" Pet smiles at the other Blackbeard Pirates surrounding her, "Because you're all cowards." She smiles and pivots while Yin clashes with Shiliew's nodachi. Its existence sparks some added anger, he blinks, but then his eyes widen when he registers Yang plunged through his gut. Pet licks her lips as his blood comes pouring out, "Still think you're all that?" Pet jumps back as a bullet flies by her head, she smiles, "You'll only get lucky once." Pet goes to attack Van Augur, but is thwarted as she squints at Lafitte with his cane halted by her hand, "What, are you stupid?" She pulls him in only to move him at the last second when Vasco Shot shoots at her. Lafitte takes the bullets for her and she deals a kick so he flies into their shooter. She frowns, "I thought you guys would be stronger."

Blackbeard seems perturbed, but the sneaky bastard cuts in, "They were just the distraction." Pet narrows her eyes as she looks at the curtain on the ground, _I'm losing it, Daray._

_It's to be expected with the drugs' effects and the headache and the tiredness. You really shouldn't have made all those wolves though._

_I gave the pirates a head start._

_You're already at a disadvantage and getting more tired by the minute._

Pet lowers to her all fours stance, Blackbeard spouts something about being the strongest yada yada. Pet pounces after the, "This is my Era!" She's not afraid, she's just angry. Five claw marks going down from either shoulder cut into Blackbeard like an X across his chest. He throws in a punch with his left hand that cracks the air and Pet squints with one eye open as she grits and feels the tremors. She flies away, but rolls to stagger and coughs out blood. She looks at Blackbeard in anger as he laughs and uses Black Hole on the closer Marines.

Pet takes a step forward when Blackbeard challenges people to face him, but her legs shake from exhaust. She notices she doesn't have to though when Sengoku steps in to face him. Pet takes a deep breath as she starts her run. She shifts into a wolf to up her speed and weaves through the war zone as she goes for the ocean, her scarlet eyes find Akainu facing the Whitebeard Commanders and Buggy with Jinbe and Luffy both unconscious in his arms while... Do her eyes deceive her? She grins wolfishly as she flies by Buggy shifts back drawing her swords and sending slashes cutting across the air into the surrounding Navy Warships, those firing on her other family member's ship, or submarine. She begins losing altitude as she sheathes her swords and turns to Buggy ordering, "Hand them over to him, Buggy!" Pet uses Geppou to step over to him as he's about to toss them, when Kizaru fires a laser and she deflects it with her sword, she growls at him and he travels over her to kick her downward. She flies toward the sea before amassing her power to push herself away and roll on the ice. She rolls to a stand while sheathing her sword.

She glares at him and goes to meet him as he starts charging up for an attack on Law's ship. She kicks his face so he flies back to Akainu. She lands on the ship's sail and pushes off to punch Akainu in the face with enough power for force to spread on all the surrounding people. They get blown away some as she slides back on the ice. Aokiji comes to face her, sporting all the wounds she gave him, Kizaru is way worse off, while Akainu hasn't even felt her rage. "I'll take you all on." Her hands at her sides flick open with claws extended as all her pointy parts begin to elongate and glow with her eyes changing as well, but the process is halted when a pink-haired youngling runs in between the battling Admirals and former Admiral.

He yells with his voice on the breaking point, and spit flying, "That's enough!" Pet narrows her eyes, _this will never be over._

She remains in stance as everyone else halts to hear his words, Pet figures she can knock him out and continue on, but she'll let him have his moment. She can hear the crying, but he faces Akainu, _poor choice. _"Stop, already! All this fighting, just end it! We're throwing people's lives away! Even though every single soldier has a family waiting for them to return! Even though we've already accomplished our goal! We keep chasing pirates who don't want to fight, drawing out a battle that should already be over... and abandoning soldiers who could be saved if we treat their wounds now! And still, we're sacrificing more people! What about soldiers who will fall after this?! We're making them look like idiots!"

Akainu amuses him, "Huh? Who are you?"

Pet twitches forward, _he may be annoying at this moment, but I won't let him kill anyone else I care about._

Pet shifts slightly getting ready to step in when Akainu continues, "You've wasted several seconds of my time. The Navy has no use for soldiers who aren't righteous!"

Pet growls as he raises his magma fist, in the moment that he raises it she has unsheathed Yang, but adjusts her form slightly when another sword assists her, she stands at his right while her sword is in her left hand behind his. Their blades form a very open X in front of Coby.

This meddler commends Coby, "You did well, young Marine. You risked your life to create a brief moment of courage... For better or worse, that has greatly changed the fate of the world." She notes Benn Beckman not too far behind and his ship comes into view. When Akainu pulls his fist back, Pet sheathes her katana once more and releases her stance as Shanks goes off while sheathing his own and goes to pick up the straw hat. She shifts slightly as she grimaces when he informs them, "I've come... to end this war!"

He says that and then goes and talks with Buggy about his hat and Luffy. Pet exhales with a deep growl that none notice. Pet could tear her hair out with Shanks' reminiscing. Finally, Akainu states the obvious, "Red Hair, you scum. You let Dragon's son escape."

Pet sighs as Aokiji forms more ice and jumps into the air, she mutters, "Sure, don't mind little ole me, I'll just-" She jumps up too and before he can get off the attack she grabs him by his coat and pulls him so they fall towards the hardened ocean headfirst, ice starts forming up her arms, but she ignores it. She lets go last minute and her heel connects with his chin so he buries in his own ice. She jumps back and falters not enough for anyone to notice. She steps up to grab Kizaru despite his light form as he gets off a few shots into the water and into her before she heaves changing into her werewolf state and throwing him across the ice while roaring, "I'm not going to let any one of you sorry saps touch either of them!" She falls in her heavy form with her red eyes challenging them all, "Forget Shanks, you're going to have to make it through me first!"

She lands and her size decreases back to her human form as she starts walking forward with her breath obscuring her features except the red eyes smoldering.

Kizaru looks at her before saying something smart, for once, "We should just give up on him for now."

Akainu scowls at her. Her teeth sparkle from her shadowed figure, she's taunting him. The shadows on his face darken, and Pet comes to a stop in front of him. Pet's eyes dart to the side as Marco and Shanks exchange words. Then he turns to walk all badass with his groupies, "If you keep on fighting...both sides will suffer more pointless casualties... If anyone still wants to fight...then come! We will be your opponents!" Everybody's so scared, while Pet holds back snorting, _and after I finish with you, I'll kill the rest of them._

_Suddenly, he's not so cool when he's in your way, huh._

_Damn straight! He's not!_

Pet looks back after Sengoku releases his devil fruit power, and Shanks begins once more, "Everybody... For now... Please respect what I have to say. Whitebeard. Ace. Please leave their burial to us." Pet's hand cover her mouth to stop her laughter, _even if they say no, I'll take them anyway. _"This war was broadcast all over the world. Don't exploit their deaths more than you already have!" Pet's piercing look cuts off any dispute while Sengoku agrees.

"Very well. I'm fine with entrusting them to you, Red Hair. I will take the blame."

"Sorry about this," Pet's hand is back to her mouth, _it's just so comical how polite Shanks is. I mean I knew, but, he's showing too much kindness to that infuriating Fleet Admiral._

_I think you have more reason to be mad than he does._

Pet nods as Sengoku orders, "Tend to the wounded," and then announces, "This war... is over!"

Pet shakes her head as her eyes wander to Ace. She gulps slightly as she walks over to him and kneels, a hand reaches out as she strokes his hair. Pirates and Marines alike, pass her a glance and she shifts before they can see her tears forming. Her black nose touches his cold cheek with one paw on his back, but no pressure on him. Her body racks and her instinct takes hold as her snout turns skyward and she howls carrying over the battlefield and beyond. Her pain and her loss are expressed without words, she doesn't end there. She puts her everything into her never ending howl. Only another wolf would recognize the story she tells, her sorrow in failing her brother, and allowing Whitebeard to die without any help. Luffy's pain is on her head, but sorrow isn't the only feeling she's conveying. She's telling of her anger, the volcano that hasn't stop spewing lava and shaking her inner world. It'll calm every once in a while, before it seems to ignite again.

Wrath leaks into her voice, she won't forget. She opens her eyes as the sound waves dwindle and die out. She takes her paw off her little brother and shifts back onto her knee. Sengoku towers over her suddenly, he asks in a demanding tone, "Are you really done?"

She doesn't look at him, as she stands up, then her red eyes flick to his, she mutters, "I was done on Sabaody."

Sengoku nods, "This will be a problem, Pet."

Pet bursts into a smile, "For the Marines it will. Maybe I'll go hunt down every base I created in the New World and tear it down? Seems fair to me, after all, I made them and I'm pretty angry still, if you hadn't noticed." She exaggerates her blinking to emphasize her point.

Sengoku frowns, "You wouldn't dare."

Pet's smile grows, "Oh, I would, and you know it. That's why, instead of that, I want a fight. Send those three Admirals to meet me on Punk Hazard in a week and three days. If they don't show up to defend the Marines, then I'll take that to mean I will have very little resistance in meticulously eradicating every stronghold of the Navy's until I find myself back on Marine Headquarters. It will be a pointless fight since you won't be able to muster as many Marines, they'll all be sacrificed needlessly anyways..." Pet turns away as she finishes painting her picture, Sengoku stands, refraining from attacking her. She senses his anger, but continues, "Once you take this up to the Gorosei they'll order you to send the Admirals anyways, after you tell them what I'm threatening and explain how I'm going to do it. Just a little phrase you're not privileged to understand will do the trick, Dragons get angry when you steal their gold." Pet winks at him as she pats him on the arm, "if you don't mind, I'm going to go get my things." She disappears and Sengoku is left to stew. Only a few heard her words, Shanks is one of them.

A few minutes later she reappears with her glider on her back, Shanks steps up to her with their shoulders touching. An unspoken argument is defined, but Pet brushes past and picks up her brother to take him aboard the ship. She lays him down and sets her things aside and everyone mingles in quietude at the front while Pet grips the ledge at the far back of the ship. She smiles to herself as Marineford is soon out of sight. _I think it's safe now, Pet._

Pet nods, as every pain and ounce of tiredness comes into focus while her vision fades. Blood begins to trail down her eyes and from her nose, her legs shake as do her arms. She coughs out blood and all her wounds bleed, her red eyes flicker before going out. She collapses onto the wood, gasping as more blood finds its way out. _I don't have the strength to heal right now._

_You used it all up to fight and break out of that trance._

_I guess it's time to overcome my headaches._

_Better late than never._

_I'll... do it... in the morning._

Her consciousness recedes from exhaust. It's only until later when someone prompts the rest as to where Pet is. They begin a search and Marco's breath catches when he sees her silhouette on the floor, as in, it's nighttime already. He rushes forth calling out, "She over here-yoi!" He shakes her inert body, "Oi, oi!" Others burst forth and medics lead Marco to their domain to work on her. Meanwhile, Shanks was sitting near his mast with his arms crossed and a pouty face over her going onto Whitebeard's ship instead of his, until he notices the commotion and hops over to find Marco heading inside the ship with Pet in his arms. Unease sets in his stomach and he remembers her loss and the way she deals with pain. She doesn't allow for sadness, she replaces it with anger. He doesn't approve of her continuing a fight with the Navy, but he won't get in her way either.

He sighs as he goes to whine to his crew.

* * *

Pet's heavy lids open as she shifts on the bed. Her hand goes to her bandages as she traces them. Her vision flickers to the room she's been left in, she sighs, sitting back. _Idiots left me inside with no windows... Are they trying to kill me!?_

_Not like you tell people why you have such fast healing abilities._

_It's none of their business._

Pet gets off the bed and then moves outside, the sunlight burns her eye sockets. She shades them and blinks at the deck, it's empty. Upon further inspection, she finds the whole of the crew gathered on the island they must've docked at. She leans on the ledge as she sees the burial site they're almost finished constructing. After a moment of silence and watching, the wind seems to carry a recognition and impending sense of duty when it blows gently on her skin. Her eyes narrow, but then she thinks... _Wait, what about Luffy!?_ She covers her face as worry sets in. _I have to see him... _

_He's probably already killed himself by now._

_Not helping._

She rushes inside and changes her torn and bloody clothes. She puts on a bikini top and a jacket that she leaves unzipped. Some pants cover her lower body. Placing her glider on her shoulder, she hops off the ship and onto the grass. She decided to go shoe-less, she hates shoes, the higher ups thought it would be unprofessional if she chose to no longer wear them, but she's not under their control anymore. She's a rogue. Whitebeard's former underlings start at her sudden appearance, she walks down the two facing sides of pirates. She reaches the front just as Shanks and Marco turn to leave. Shanks stops as he looks upon her, Marco steps forward, "Pet, are you alright?"

Shanks' eyes narrow as her dull yellow meet his, "I'm leaving. Just thought I should say thank you for the hospitality and care."

Marco waves his hand, "It was the least we could do-yoi. I'm sure a lot more people would have died if you hadn't been there."

Pet shakes her head as she looks past the two, at what's behind them, "No, I accomplished nothing compared to what I lost." She steps back and walks to the side towards the cliff.

Shanks calls, "Where are you going? There's no point in continuing the fight."

Pet cracks her neck, "I'm going to send a message, not continue a fight. Maybe let off some steam, what business is it of yours anyways?" Shanks frowns as Pet steps off the cliff and moves her glider beneath her, she kicks it on and takes off, following her wolf sense.

* * *

Her eyes widen when suddenly everything comes into focus and she makes a hasty jump grabbing her glider and swinging it to bury the tip in the soil of the ground. She pants heavily with her hand still gripping its wood. Images waver in her mind, she's tired.

Her smile asserts itself when those cold grey eyes meet her yellow. She laughs and walks over to the seated youngster, "Law-kun!" He stands eyeing her calculatingly. She goes to hug him, and one of his arms goes around her waist as she momentarily loses strength.

He frowns at her with her hand on the tree supporting herself, "You don't seem well."

She pouts, "You try taking on three Admirals without getting injured or tired. They drugged me too, so all that's still going to take time to wear off."

He blinks at her as a distant screaming reaches her ears. Her features drop as she stands upright to look into the forest of the island of women. He apathetically informs her, "I was just about to leave. I've done all I can. Jinbe is going to him... Here." He holds out Luffy's most treasured possession. Pet nods and gently takes it, her eyes note the wearing of it and the changes since she first had the chance to examine it. She smiles lightly at the supernova, his eyes seems to scrutinize her, "Were you drugged before?"

Pet's head tilts, "Hm?... Before?" One blink from Law and Pet remembers, "Oh, yes, that was actually the first time I broke free. I wasn't myself on Sabaody. Apparently, I woke up when I sensed someone I consider family in danger... And I was the one putting him in danger, no less! Haha, I was about to kill you!" Law's brows come together as he scowls at her, she smacks his shoulder good-naturedly, "I'd never go through with it though. You're much too precious to me, Law-kun, for anyone or thing to be able to make me kill you. Maybe I'll injure you a bit, but once it gets serious, they could never get me to pull the trigger." Her pearly whites show and Law's brows rise with a small tint forming on his cheeks, she continues, "I love you, Law-kun."

Law rubs his neck trying to keep his frown in place, but it threatens to burst into smile. He can't hide the burning cheeks, he remembers Corazon and how he told him so openly too. There's no greater feeling than the reassurance that someone cares and loves you. Law barely breathes, "Love you, too." Pet is perceptive, however, she won't embarrass him for reciprocating or sharing his feelings. She understands pride, all too well.

She wraps her arms around him once more and adds, "Thank you for taking care of Luffy-kun, I owe you one."

Law mutters, "No, I've owed you all this time."

She pats his head after they've parted, "I didn't notice." He frowns at her, but she bends and plants a kiss on his forehead, "I'm going to go see to another of my family, now. See you, Law-kun."

She turns and heads into the forest with Law's eye's trailing after her.

* * *

Luffy has just attained enlightenment from his newer friend, Jinbe. Jinbe stands, facing Luffy when he notices the boys eyes widen and focus on something behind him. He turns around and finds Pet, bandages that seem to have failed in their purpose, as she has blood dripping down her wounds. He notices she's only focused on Luffy. She smiles lightly, halfheartedly almost. He sees the masking of her pain as her gaze turns to the straw hat in her hands.

She steps forward, "Luffy-kun...I-" She's cut off as Luffy has jumped with his arms around her neck hanging from her while her features show her surprise.

He laughs through his tears, "Nee-chan, I was worried about you!"

Pet feels a lump grow in her throat as well as tears brim, "Sorry..." She whispers.

Luffy lets out another laugh, "I'm happy to see you. And..." He disentangles and looks at the item she holds, "You brought my hat!"

Pet smiles, "Y-yes. Law-kun gave it to me, to give to you." She smiles as her nervousness sheds like a second skin. She shifts it to one hand and places it on his head, pushing down so he comes back to his full height with a wide grin. Her hand slides to his shoulder as she grips it with her tears still threatening to conquer her cheeks. Her other hand shifts to his other, she can't form the words. Instead, she takes his lead, "I'm so happy you're okay."

"Shishishi, only because Nee-chan was there to protect me."

"You've grown so strong." Pet smiles as she pulls him in and hugs him, "I love you and Ace wasn't your fault." She feels Luffy stiffen, she reasons, "As the older sibling of you both, it's my responsibility, it wasn't your job to save him, Luffy." Pet lets him pull away, she can spot the lingering guilt, and she wants it all to disappear, she will make it disappear... but she can't, time can. She smiles and pats him again, "I just want that to be clear."

Jinbe steps in, "Pet-san, you're bleeding."

Pet looks down, frowning at herself. She shrugs, "Yeah, I should probably re-bandage them." She smiles, "Let's head back, shall we?" She puts her arm across Luffy's shoulders as they walk, and her other arm links with Jinbe's.

As they walk, Jinbe comments, "You were amazing out there."

Luffy laughs, "Nee-chan is always awesome when she fights. She's super strong!"

Pet joins the laughter, "I was actually off my game, but I won't be next time." She smiles, "Once these wounds heal I'm going to go on a rampage. Haha!" Jinbe smiles, but he can sense the seriousness in her voice and the daggers being formed and strengthened behind her eyes. He can see the desire for revenge, the anger behind every smile, the poison building within her fangs as if she were a viper. He knows she will teach whatever lesson she wants, it's her classroom, after all.

Jinbe looks ahead, "Still, taking on two, no three Admirals, and then a whole crew of pirates."

Luffy tilts his head, "You fought pirates?"

Pet frowns, "Blackbeard was there, Luffy-kun. I put his crew in their place, but he's a coward, a dog that doesn't know his place. I'll teach it to him, if I ever see him again."

Luffy frowns as he remembers, "I'm going to beat his ass first."

Pet laughs, "We'll see about that, Luffy-kun!"

He glares at her, but he changes to a smile, "It's a race then!"

Pet chuckles, "And I'm faster, so I win! Ha ha ha!"

Luffy pouts, "Nuh uh, I'm going to see him first and beat his ass before you!"

Jinbe sweat drops at their behavior, he can understand that they're just playing, not actually going to sniff him out, but if they see him, he's going down.

They reach the shore and Pet's attitude drops. She steps in front of both of them as she snarls, the cause of her drop also narrows her eyes at her. Hancock demands, "Get away from my husband, you fiend!"

Pet stops her heel with a little less strength than before, she merely growls, "Boa Hancock, you annoying little brat."

Luffy holds his hands up as he laughs before slapping his knee, "Hancock, this is my Nee-chan."

Hancock's features fall from anger to shock and regret. She steps away as she fixes her hair, "Oh, you're his sister." When she tries to touch Pet, the latter growls deeply with her eyes flashing.

"Stay away from me and my brother. I don't remember approving of this marriage."

Luffy grows serious, "I'm not getting married. I'm going to be Pirate King!"

Pet nods with a set face, glaring at Hancock, while also holding Luffy into her chest, "Damn straight you aren't, and you definitely will be Pirate King."

Hancock twitches in anger while Luffy pushes away, "Nee-chan, I can't breathe!" Pet smiles and laughs letting him go.

Rayleigh finally cuts in, "Luffy-kun?"

Luffy's smiling grows wide, "Rayleigh! You're here!" Pet smiles at Luffy's treatment of him, she nods at the observers.

Rayleigh comments, "You should get medical attention Pet-san."

Pet nods as she shifts her weight slightly and touches her stomach, she frowns at the red liquid dripping from her hand.

She blinks as Hancock throws rolls of bandages at her. Most connect with her face and she catches them. She mutters, "Thank you." Hancock merely humphs as she goes back to flaunting over Luffy. Pet sits back and tends to herself. She doesn't pay attention to the conversation of the others. After she finishes, Luffy notices. He smiles with meat still in his mouth as he grabs another and throws it, "Here, Nee-chan!" Pet shifts and the snap of her jaws is heard all around when she lands and breaks the bone in her mouth before throwing her head back and swallowing. She shakes her fur out before sitting back in her human form.

She pats her stomach before deciding, "I need to hunt." Her stomach feels dusty.

Luffy starts throwing more food into the air, and Pet sighs changing once more and cleaning the air. Hancock steams a bit and Pet chuckles in her wolf form. She tells Luffy, "_I'll be right back, I'm going to go hunt for a bit._"

Luffy laughs as Pet disappears, "Alright."

Rayleigh raises a brow, "Alright what? Luffy-kun."

Luffy responds with a full mouth, "She's going to hunt, but she'll be right back."

Meanwhile, Pet just slayed a great boar and ate while it was still warm. She heads back and reappears in human form wiping her mouth of the blood.

Luffy seems to be thinking deeply on something Rayleigh just said. Pet smiles as she walks to her board, Luffy looks at her, "Nee-chan?"

Pet lifts it from the ground, she turns back, "I'm going, Luffy-kun. I just wanted to check on you and speak with Law-kun for a moment."

Luffy tilts his head, but gets up to rush her, once his arms are around her, "Okay, Nee-chan, love you."

Pet cracks a grin, "Love you, too, Luffy-kun." She lets him go and smiles at Rayleigh and Jinbe, "Ray-san, Jinbe-kun." Hancock seems to be making herself small, while Pet turns her gaze on her, "Hancock."

Hancock's lip pulls slightly. Then Pet is off, speeding away.

* * *

The wind rustles the leaves on the calm seemingly summer night. One intake of breath as more leaves swirl around her. She has been meditating for the fight since she arrived not too long ago on the supposedly deserted island, Punk Hazard. She knows that coward won't utter a syllable in the face of an Admiral, or former Admiral. The subtle melody of hooves on a forest path alert her to a visitor, a young one. Her clawed hand reaches out, even with her eyes closed, and she brushes the furry cheek of a fawn. A small smile forms as her hand goes back to her lap to continue gathering strength, she's going to teach them a lesson they won't soon forget. She exhales and feels the baby lay down against her thigh. Her cold voice informs her, "You're not going to change my mind."

* * *

The day arrives as the three leftovers each make a half circle at the center of the island. They all made their own ways to the island, but were guided by the same order, "Meet her there, and make that her final resting place, as ordered by the Gorosei."

"Where is that bitch?"

Aokiji's brow twitches, "Don't call her that."

"Don't falter, Aokiji, you heard the orders. She must be executed."

Kizaru merely watches the two polar opposites with his hands in his pockets.

"I know." He frowns.

The woman of the hour appears facing them all, a distance away. She grins, "Don't fight, you two. You should conserve your energy for me."

Akainu grins as much as one with a serious face can, "Here I thought you weren't going to show up."

Pet's flashing eyes meet his, "I just couldn't bear to think of your disappointed face and there is also the desire to use you as a scratching post, maybe see how high your voice can go when you're in pain. I have every reason to show up, I was worried you might not, after all, I am the strongest."

Akainu frowns, "Now I get to prove to you how wrong you are."

Pet rubs her face, "You hot headed fool." Her claws and fangs lengthen as she roars, "Come, then!"

Akainu's fists both turn to magma as it seems to build from him. He smirks as he steps forward, pulling his fist back to deliver a heated blow. Pet stiffens for a moment before, _Are you mad!? Don't take any hits! It'll be much more impressive, I assure you!_ She jumps to the side, she hadn't planned for it as a light-speed kick swipes her, threatening to bury her in the magma that bastard is building. She halts the force with a great burst of energy. She turns to Kizaru with blood trailing down the side of her face. She blinks and her eyes go from yellow to red. "That hurt." He steps back, but she swipes him with a kick of her own and he flies away from his comrades. She sighs before ice coats her body. The magma idiot unfreezes her quickly, she's jumping back anyways before turning and sprinting around. Kizaru comes up beside her before she smiles at him and stops just as he runs into a pillar of ice that shot up. She rolls to the side as more pop up.

Pet rolls to her palms and pushes skyward when Akainu fills her previous spot with magma. Midair she sends slices via her claws with an ounce of haki so he gains a few cuts with a grunt. She frowns at the spears about to be thrown at her. Just as her feet are about to touch the ground, she swipes with her claws and breaks them. She lands and turns only to grunt as Kizaru's beams shoot through her. She appears in front of him with a shift of the air. She pierces him with her finger before kneeing him in the gut, "A little extra." She leans back as another fist punches the air in front of her nose. She looks along the arm to Akainu's growling face, "Come on, little dog. Keep up." She hisses as magma drips onto her skin scalding it. Gritting her teeth, she brings her own back and lets loose, connecting to his face. Her hand, in the time it came back and met his face, became coated with armament haki. He flies away face first. She laughs before her previously sheathed blade deflects against Aokiji's ice blade. Her red eyes meet his and she grins, "I sense hesitation, Kuzan-kun. You shouldn't fight if your heart isn't in it."

He growls as he pushes her back, using his height to his advantage to tower. She lets him, calmly facing him. "Leave while you still can, before I get serious..." He doesn't let up, they part only for a moment before going back. "I don't want to hurt you, Kuzan-kun. I'm not sure if I've decided whether letting you wallow in your complete defeat or killing you all is a better message." He shakes his head before she smiles and fazes out of his sight. He almost doesn't get out of the way for the beams and magma blasts, but last millisecond, he's pulled out of the way and thrown across the landscape as if he were a misshapen football.

She smiles, inhaling heavily, "~Sakazuki-kun, Borsalino-kun, I'm just getting started~" She laughs as she draws her katana and vanishes. Her blades are spread, like she's free falling, by the time any in the vicinity can relocate her. The aforementioned people both simultaneously sway at the multiple gashes appearing all over their bodies. Pet swings her babies down so the blood flies off before sheathing them. The two falter, but hold their ground, holding a dagger to her throat with their look. She frowns, "The party hasn't even started yet."

"Fufufu, now it has."

Pet frowns and bites her lip as multiple cuts appear on her own body. She turns behind her in shock and disgust, "You!? What the f-"

The smile shows through the shadow of the clouds like Cheshire cat. Pet growls then, "What are you doing here, Doflamingo?"

"Seems they know about our history, thought to send me in as well." The lanky newcomer circles her as if he were a shark drawn by her blood. "No worries, though, I didn't want to come. Just wanted to say hello."

Pet watches him, "Liar." She blocks his fist as he tries to cut her with his thread. She grabs his other hand as they stand in a power struggle.

"Fufufu, unfortunately, I am supposed to injure you in their favor, but I'd practically have to sever your head for them to ever have a chance and I don't really want to do that." Doffy smiles as they're face to face.

Pet can only see her own eyes reflected back at her in his glasses, "You killed your brother in cold blood."

Doffy frowns and he tries to pull back, but she holds him steady, "It had to be done, he was a traitor."

"He was one of the kindest men I'd ever met, and he had a lot of courage to do the things he did. What you do... He never told me why. Tell me why, Doflamingo, what's your excuse for your actions? What's your trauma, I'm curious."

"Pet, stop, don't you dare." Doffy frowns as he tries to pull away, he shoots bullet strings at her, but she doesn't respond as her orbs glimmer blue. Her claws dig in his hands, however, to stop him, blood drips from them both. The images flash through Pet's mind and Doffy's feelings at the memory.

When her eyes shift back to yellow, she lets go and slams on the ground from an outright punch from Doffy. He sweats slightly, she laughs as she picks herself up, "Mister tough guy, huh." Rage shows on his face, she smiles, "I didn't know how to do that back when I knew Cora. I think I get it now." Pet frowns as the other Admirals have finally caught their breath, she mutters, "You should probably go, Doflamingo. You only have the advantage when it's a surprise or a secret."

He stares at her, she flinches as Kizaru's beams graze her and Akainu comes in to punch her once again. She breathes in before releasing a powerful howl that would blow all their houses down at once, if they were little piglets.

She wipes her chin, and turns to block another attack from Doffy while punching him in the gut with her free hand. Blood spills from his mouth, they stay there for a moment, "Your past doesn't justify the decisions you make in the future. You're no rightful king, you have to earn that crown, or the people will turn on you. You will fall, your reign is temporary, when I hear about it, I'm going to be the one laughing."

She sees the veins bulging on his forehead, her knee connects with his chin and she twirls to kick him away. She focuses on the three Admirals coordinating their attacks.

After some time, with her vision clouding and blood dripping, the others look much worse, she looks up with a smile. Addressing them all, she laughs, "I chose this day for a reason." Night has come without any expecting it and with it came the full moon. "Always mark your calendars boys. If you have any trump cards, I suggest you pull them out now." She seems to be waiting, she even shuts her eyes. Her tan skin seems to turn a marble white, and her hair falls to her shoulders, completely white as well. They all subconsciously freeze when her shining eyes greet them. Her hands at her sides have even longer claws made of pure moonlight, her fangs lighten the surrounding darkness along with them. Pet looks at her hands, the movement is elegant and graceful, almost displaying humility. Pet's eyes flick to them.

Her voice wafts over to them, smooth and silky, "You can't win now. I'm sorry, but I came here with a purpose. I'll spare the flamingo, he was never my target, but if he wants to stick around, I'll teach him a little something about family..." She looks to him, the challenge evident, then she turns to Akainu, "I'm done playing games. The purpose of this fight is to teach you all that you not only lost an ally, but also made the strongest enemy you will ever have to face. There's a reason they wanted a swift death to be sent my way, they worry about what I'll become."

Aokiji interjects, "What will you become?"

Pet smiles, "You probably won't believe me, but when I come of age I'll have strengthened the most ancient connection my people have, I'll get in touch with my inner dragon and I'll transform." She smiles, "when that happens, I'm going to use that power to destroy the Marines, for my brother, that is how far I will go. You have a greater chance since you're all gathered here to try and stop me now. So come at me with all you've got and I'll show you I don't need to use that terrifying power to destroy anything, I'm perfectly capable now. I just want it to be a surprise when I crush everything the Marines stand for, I feel it will be... well, more crushing."

Akainu heats up, "You don't get to speak so flippantly about crushing the Marines. You will meet your end, here and now."

Pet sighs before it's cut off as she jumps back and sees the trees have morphed into string. They all come at her and she disappears only to claw Doffy's back. He holds back a howl of pain as it sears deep into his back. She apologizes, "Stand down, Doffy, please. I have no quarrel with you anymore." He growls as sharp tentacles converge on her, she jumps back and is met with a great blast of magma that burns her back. She bypasses and stabs him in his shoulder and her other hand drags down his chest. She delivers more stab wounds before being forced to lay off to dodge another attack. Akainu falls to his knee, shaking as the aftereffect chars his soul. She offers a small smile, "I guess, for that, I can level up once more, after all, I made the preparations and everything."

She drops to all fours and a wind seems to blast around her, covering her from their eyesight, momentarily. When it disperses outward, a white wolf stands tall with its majestic eyes falling on them like it is a queen and they are its subjects, lesser beings. Aokiji has his breath stolen, the aura around it is so light, it's overwhelming. It lets loose a reverberating howl that seems to draw in a fog. They're all isolated from each other now, ready to be picked off. The spiritual being doesn't mar its white fur with their blood, it brushes past at speeds so fast that they're cut up and burned, driven mad. Until she releases the fog. Akainu smirks and the wolf looks to the ground. The rumbling has begun and she can only think a volcano is going to sprout up. She was correct, she starts running towards the persistent Admiral. _I'm going to kill him._

_No, make him beg._

A yelp resounds when she slows drastically for the threads now in her way. She slams into them and they cut her flesh. She growls and materializes behind Doffy, she sinks her teeth into his shoulder and he yells in pain. _They've tried my patience._

The blood drips from her jowls, she has shown herself for what she is, a beast, seducing with her beauty. In a frenzy, she sinks her claws into Akainu and he pounds magma into her belly and chest before the loss of blood gets to him and he loses strength. The other two get a lesser punishment, but it's the same result.

They're all laying in their own pools of blood. The transformation runs out and Pet falls over. She has just enough strength to stand back up and heave, "Go tell your Gorosei of your defeat, and tell them I'm always on guard, but they should be too, because you never know when I'll be in the mood for a massacre." She begins limping away, but stops by Doflamingo and utters low enough for him to hear, "It's not my job to take care of you, but expect me, if you ever end Law or Luffy. I'll be coming for vengeance."

Doffy whispers, "What will you do now, Pet-chan?"

She shakes her head, "I haven't thought that far, for once in my life."

He chuckles, but ends up coughing blood. Pet leaves him to it, heading for the cover of the trees at a slow pace. She frowns as she falls to her knees, the fawn lays with its side cut up. She strokes it solemnly, "What were you doing here." She breathes deeply before her eyes flicker blue, shifting between bright blue and dull yellow. Once she thinks the fawn will make it, she releases it and leans over to hack blood. The fawn's doe eyes watch her, she pats its head, "You owe me, go live a little longer." She grabs a tree to pull herself up and continue on. Somehow she finds the strength to kick on her glider and escape the island.

It's afternoon the next day when she crash lands and crawls inch by inch until she can finally smile tiredly. Her palm rests on the smooth chiseled stone. Her consciousness fades as she murmurs, "Ace-kun, I love you."

* * *

Her blood has all dried by the time she awakens again, it's the cooler of morning, but the sun still beats down on her. She doesn't remember, she's dazed as she's turned over against her will. She doesn't feel like taking on the sun in her eyes. Her face buries into this weirdly placed post, but the post is expanding and decompressing, like it's breathing, weird. Then it vibrates as if it were talking, these are some strange times.

This post seems to have sprouted limbs as she's lifted off the ground, she barely whispers, "Leave me alone."

Something that reminds her of whining ensues and she growls low. She's tired and she doesn't need any form of pole, post, trunk, or stump disrupting her sleep. She falls back into darkness.

Her hand travels up to shade her eyes when they flutter open. She hums and then notices her other hand is held captive under a red head. She looks herself over before checking him out. "Shanks," she sleepily orders, "get up here." The snoring male stirs slightly as she pulls her hand from him and guides him in his sleep onto the bed with her. She goes back to sleep against him. His shifting wakes her up later, he notices and brings his head against hers, "Good morning, beautiful."

A slight blush develops on her cheeks, "Howdy, handsome."

"How'd the fight go?"

"I kicked ass."

He kisses her forehead, "I could tell. Seems someone kicked your ass too."

Pet smiles, "It's got to happen sometimes. Four against one, too. Cut me some slack."

"Who was the fourth?"

"Donquixote Doflamingo, I have some history with him. For the me at the time, I had the hots for his brother."

Shanks shifts, "Do you still?"

"I'll always care, but it's kind of hard to love a dead man. I don't get to visit him as often, and the conversation when I do is kind of one sided. You know, dead people just aren't as mobile."

Shanks asks, "When did that happen?"

"Long before I met you, if anyone has my heart these days... it's you."

Shanks coughs over the bed, a failed attempt to cover up his own heating face. "That alcohol must be affecting me."

Pet smiles as her lips meet his, her eyes holding his after they part a ways, "Except you're not drunk."

Shanks smiles as they both push for a passionate and long kiss. They haven't seen each other for down time in a long while. Shanks asks, "So, what are you going to do, now that you're not an Admiral anymore?"

Pet snuggles against him, "Well, I'm always going to be a lone wolf, but I need a den..." Shanks nods and hums. Pet continues, "Is your offer still good? I won't always stick around though, but for the most part I would?"

Shanks kisses her brow, smiling against her, "Of course it's still good. I don't mind you needing your freedom."

Pet feels bubbly, her hand brushes against his chest before kissing him deeply for a moment. "I love you."

Shanks grins and laughs, "I love you too. Welcome to the crew."

She bounces her brows and winks and they do what lovers do. *wink*

* * *

**Author's End Note: **I'm kind of unsatisfied with this, but let me know. As payment for the long wait, I'd be fine with taking requests on what you'd want to see and maybe do some one-shots in different situations for this story. So if you have an idea you'd like them to experience then pm me and I'll get right on that. Thanks for sticking with me and there were so many reviews for last chapter, thanks so much. See ya, maybe? Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D

P.S. I've decided to go on hiatus for four weeks just because I'm going to be busy and then I'm going on vacation with my family, but I may try to post a few things. Again, that beta reader of mine, man.


	25. The Beginning of the End

**It's the beginning of a new era or part of the story. TIMESKIP STATUS. Sorry it took so long. AP classes and my final year of high school is no joke. I have more chapters written so they should be updated on time for a while, but I am also working on like five other stories to get up soon with multiple chapters already written for those, I just want to be safe so that if I get busy I can still provide you guys with a chapter every week.**

_Beware the feels! I really really hope you guys like this. If you were happy with the ending where it was then feel free to abstain from the next chapters._

_A lot of feels this chapter... Enjoy._

* * *

He... They... They're all gone.

The very notion sends tremors of remorse; each methodically and spitefully break down the walls I've constructed over the years. The ones I built in my childhood, the ones I built working for the Navy. They've held firm against the tests of time, with each new conflict they dutifully shielded my heart from sustaining too much damage. It was Shanks who gave me the strength to maintain them, fortify them, preserve them. He gave me the power to be my own person, he-

Grief seems to desecrate my inner sanctum. Scars rip along the very ground, my beautiful field and protective forest succumb to gravity as they fall into the massive rips in the fabric of my inner world. I feel Daray howling through the icy fields of my mind, trying to escape the cold. Just as my mind suggests, I'm dead inside, and I expect a long winter, the kind which drags on until the idea of rebirth and hope are simply things of a distant past. They'll be like the notions children think up until adulthood crashes in and destroys the idealistic dreams. The connection to my sanity is broken as the earth beneath me shivers, there's no fire to spew from these gaping holes. The temperature is dropping by the second, frost is already forming on the barren land. Daray- Daray's too far away to help me now.

Can I finally be allowed a reprieve? Will they grant it?

These Marines, all my foolish enemies have always thought to break me by hurting my physical body, as if I didn't have quickened healing and a high tolerance for pain. They didn't have any hope of overcoming my sharp wit and boundless knowledge -these traits have always aided in protecting my mental stability- but those fuckers did it this time. They have me, literally brought me to my knees.

I'm but a shell of what I was. I thought I could get past it, I just needed to wait for him, needed some consoling from my most trusted friend. I shouldn't have waited, haven't I learned anything?

Some great Demon Wolf, that struck fear into the heart of every World Government loving idiot. Even among my people, they revered me as the next White Dragon Empress. I had to go back home, despite my anxiety, to fortify defenses, but I made sure the threat was clear; touch my family, I will gather every single Ancient Weapon, excluding Poseidon, and I will destroy the world. Do they ever listen? No.

What they did... They went too far.

I bang my fist weakly on the frozen dirt. The chill dries my mouth while my heated breath clouds in front of me as I struggle for every inhale. How can I even think to breathe without him? My inner world crumbles as I lose control. The sky and the land surrounding me seem to be disappearing. Ice seems to coat everything and then break off to fall into the many chasms, forever expanding until nothing will be left but the void. Who cares? I have no purpose in this world anymore. My mission has failed, not even Shanks is around to bring me from the brink. Every time, I have to remind myself that. He's gone. He's gone. He's fucking gone, Pet! What am I going to do!? Who am I going to kill!?

A sob wrenches itself from my throat, the lump is suffocating me. It's too heavy on my own. I can't... I'm a compass who no longer knows which way is north, directionless.

Tears spill and my fingers bury into the dirt. I can't stop them. I touch my forehead against the cold ground. Get a hold of yourself! You can overco- No, no I can't. I really can't.

I lift my face and scream, the tears don't stop streaming down my face. The piercing notes shatter the land around me. H-He's gone. They're gone.

The image of Daray circling me with his fur bristling fazes in and out of my vision. He's running, barking at me. I can't hear him anymore. Doesn't he know? Didn't he hear?  
The chaos of my mind is deafening, there's too many voices speaking at once. Some screaming, others crying, some talking, others whispering. I can't make it out. There's no way to get this in order. It's done.

The ground beneath me fades away as I fall into a never ending darkness. It's okay, they can end it now. I'm done with this life, this horrible life.

* * *

I can't save her this time. I know this. I can feel this. Our brainwaves seem to go out of a sync in the moment she's sees he's not here. She desperately wanted him to be here. To save her again, like last time. The one time she needed him, he was there for her.

Now, where the hell is he?

He's gone, we both knew before seeing Luffy's solemn expression. He was the poor messenger, and the delivery was too much for her to bear. The cost was too great, she couldn't afford it.

She had clung to the hope Shanks would come and save her, he'd emerge to wipe away her tears about her family. She'd never felt close to them, she'd never forgotten their treatment of her, no matter how big her smile was in their company, she remembered their intolerance and their bottled hatred. She understood the expectations they still held for her. Shanks, on the other hand, gave his love so unconditionally; he was so patient and kind, he was tolerant of her anger, he understood where it came from...

Shanks is just too much of a loss. He is her soulmate, he is her partner in crime. They always got along. Even I have to admit that Shanks could get through to her about things when sometimes I couldn't. Like now.

I howl and I growl and I snarl. She just kneels, bent, facing the ground. I can see the water falling. I see her shaking. I can't touch her. When I try, I just go right through her, like I don't exist. I'm losing my best friend, and I can't even do anything about it. She's erasing me from the world. Her spirit must be so broken that I have nothing to be a counterpart to anymore.

I never thought I'd be the one crying, but, she's in so much pain. Seeing her lift her tear stained face to the heavens and scream, I feel my own heart throb at her agony. I shift into my human form, standing, facing her. I take a knee and bow my head.

"I-I'm so sorry, Pet... I'm just... so s-sorry." I turn my head and grimace as my own tears slip. Then like a light, I'm out, faded into the nothingness of the world, the two people who knew of my existence are gone.

* * *

Pet's eyes have blanked out outside her mind, in the real world she escaped from. The Fleet Admiral smirks at the war going on in front of him, she was supposed to mark the first death, but a certain Pirate King appeared with many reinforcements. Her death was supposed to be the declaration of war on the World Government's part, while the Pirate King already declared war when he discovered One Piece and the secret behind the Void Century. It effectively shed light on their violent history of crime. It was officially declared when the mechanism to destroy the Red Line was initiated and the world was dragged into chaos in the aftermath of it.

After all, he did what the former Pirate King could not, he fulfilled the Will of D. Poseidon was even able to lead her people to the world above.

The cost of these actions were so stupendous. All the many outcomes had a price he had to pay in full, no returns.

Before he could reach Raftel, he discovered Shanks' beaten form at the hands of his longest outstanding enemy, Marshal D. Teach. Luffy had to defeat him to get to One Piece, but a certain hunger overcame him. That man, Blackbeard, had not only killed his brother but had downed his beloved idol, and he knew how much it would injure his older sister. He remembers the day the two crossed paths; she did have Blackbeard submit, but he's a sly dog and wormed his way out of her claws. After that, Blackbeard made sure to keep out of her path, until her husband got in his way, but he'd heard she was taken into custody courtesy of her rival.

Pet has been on the run from the Marines for many years. She's had a few run-ins with Admirals, and rising stars. At one point, she had to face the wrath of the Gorosei, themselves. That battle sent shock waves throughout the world as Pet once again proved her immeasurable strength. Surprisingly, the old men pack a mean punch, especially when they coerced Bonney into reviving their youth. Luffy recalls sitting in rapt attention as Shanks boasted of his wife's prowess. Even a typical simple minded idiot could envision Pet's glowing eyes as she defended herself and even freed Bonney from their clutches; the girl needed persuading. And in the end, Pet had her revert the men back to being geezers. She took Bonney with her as she made her getaway, and the Gorosei never dared to make a direct attack again.

As Pet faced off against many foes in her freedom, she often had to travel back to her home island to check up on them. She'd kill any threat before it even had the chance to be one. Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon, aided her in keeping them safe. He'd have Revolutionaries circulating shifts with her people. In return, when Sabo was away leading ops in other lands, Pet would fill in and lead scores of Revolutionaries into battles. None could even touch her any more. Well, one could, but Shanks pulled her from the flames that time.

The Pirate King, stands with his muscled arms crossed and his pirate's coat fluttering in the breeze. This battle marks the first. Their objective is to save his sister, and he will not fail like last time. He has grown since then. And now, Sabo has joined him. Both men face the execution platform as explosions, clashes, and gunshots muffle each other. They both have tasted war before, and this time is no different. Sabo murmurs, "She's not moving at all. She fumbled when they told her they had eradicated her family. It seemed like she was fine walking up to the platform."

Luffy nods, narrowing his eyes, "She must have noticed Shanks."

Sabo sighs, "She'd have broken herself out already at the thought of his death, don't you think? Went to exact her revenge." He recalls the time Ace was killed and she stirred up a storm, even defected from the Marines. Somehow, he senses the difference. She's not the same person she was, she's lighter... She was lighter after her marriage with Shanks.

Luffy sucks in a breath, "I don't think she was prepared for him dying, ever. In this situation, I wouldn't be surprised if we already lost her." Luffy lost many friends when he found One Piece, the weight is heavy on his shoulders. He can't lose his sister, and he understands that he has to help his brother win the war, so everyone can be free. Robin and Franky, his crew, they found the truth and wanted him to act accordingly, so he is... For them, all of them.

Sabo's blue eyes meet with Luffy's charcoal. He sees the age behind them, the maturity he attained over the years. "It's not like she has nothing? We're both here."

Luffy blinks calmly at him, nodding until the sound of heels draws the men's attention to the elegant woman behind them. Most of Luffy's original crew stand on the Thousand Sunny's deck while he and his brother occupy the lion's forehead. Luffy offers a smile to her, "Robin? Did you want to add something?"

Even in her aging, Robin's beauty still seems to have only tripled. Her light smile gives the impression of a light subject, it forever masks the truly dark thoughts she's never been rid of, "You two haven't needed her to save you for years. I don't think she sees you as younger brothers she has to watch over anymore. She knows you're both capable without her... I hope she's not suicidal." Both men exchange glances as they turn back to the war in front of them. There was genuine concern in Robin's voice, she truly hopes Pet hasn't lost her reasons for life. Robin understands that position, but she had to make sure her Captain understood that he might not lose Pet to the Marines, but to herself.

Luffy frowns finally, "Sabo," his older brother looks to him, "taking Robin's words into consideration, we should join the fight, end it. I don't like the idea of leaving Pet in that state for too long. The Marines will probably try something anyways, like last time."

Sabo acknowledges his words with a frown, "The quicker we get her back, the better."

Luffy nods, "She was there to give me another reason to live when Ace died, I want to return the favor." He offers a small smile at his brother before turning around and facing his commanders, "Zoro, go tell Flame-head and Mask-guy we're joining the fight. Chopper, do the same with Torao. Nami, Brooke, Franky, Robin, Usopp, Sanji, will you join me to get my sister back?"

Sanji lights a cigarette and remarks, "There's nothing more romantic than going to war for a lady."

Nami pokes him, teasing, "Don't mention that to Violet, she might get jealous."

Usopp laughs boastfully, "As a brave man of the sea, I shall!"

Franky merely presses his forearms together to form a giant star, "Super! Of course!"

Robin smiles nodding, "Of course, Captain-san."

Brooke laughs, "Yohoho I will follow you until I die, Captain! Oh wait!? I'm already dead! Yohoho!"

Luffy's lip curls into his trademark grin at his powerful and experienced crew, "Let's join the fun, shall we? I expect the rest of the alliance to follow our lead."

Sabo smiles at his younger brother and his original crew, they've all grown so much. Luffy leads the biggest alliance in known history. The White Dragon Empress lead the first biggest alliance if one would count unknown history.

Stepping forward, they all jump off Sunny. Franky takes the rear, they won't be losing their ship in this fight.

The dust settles as Luffy presses his infamous strawhat down and all the monsters of his crew wear similar smirks and smiles. The Marines falter when they lay eyes on all the major players getting off their high horses and about to dirty their hands a little, not that they've stopped fighting. Since they found One Piece, it seems all they've done is fight. They seemed to be taking on the whole world.

As Luffy said, the other major players did take note of the Straw Hat's entering the battlefield. A certain chickenhead and his crewmates shuddered in ecstasy at seeing their battle prowess once again. Luffy is the new Pirate King, he earned his title and his strength long ago surpassed the great Fleet Admiral. Also, he's in his prime, unlike Whitebeard and some of the other Admiral geezers. They're strong but gladly many of his closest crew members rose in power with him with each challenge they faced.

Chopper and Zoro both return to their Captain affirming that Trafalgar Law and Eustass Kid would be joining soon. In fact, as the legendary crew slowly advances in a line along the beach, for miles, leaders of the different pirates crews and fleets are stepping down.

It's unspoken when Sanji and Zoro set their eyes on the two Admirals wreaking the most damage on their forces. Sanji puffs on a cigarette with a light smile adorning his features, his curly brow bounces at the light human, a challenge to see who will win this time. While Zoro sheathes and unsheathes his Wado Ichimonji in anticipation for his fight against Fujitora.

The Fleet Admiral frowns slightly, this war is on an even greater scale than the war for Ace. Pet spent her whole life helping people across the world, she never abandoned them and always came running when they called, or even when they didn't. Ace can't take it to heart, because it was never a goal of his to help people. Pet's undeclared goal was to be remembered and cared about, she didn't want to disappear like her ancestor when she died.

Unfortunately, the scale of people fighting for her did not carry enough weight in reasons why she might consider staying. Instead, she saw that all these people would remember her if they cared enough to go to war for her, she accomplished her ultimate goal. She existed, and she has all these eye witnesses to vouch for her.

After a moment of acknowledgement, the Marines seem to try to take Luffy and his crew in battle. Luffy laughs, "Shishishi," and the veins in his face seem to enlarge for a moment as a powerful burst of Conqueror's Haki overpowers his foes. The Pirate King is in the fight now. Many fall unconscious, and he and his allies disperse into the fray, heading towards Pet.

As if his allies made up a great wave sweeping over the sand, they pushed the Marines back. Kizaru and Fujitora waste no time in clashing with Zoro and Sanji. To the east and western parts of the beach, Law and Kid have hopped off their ships and travel diagonally to converge on Pet's location. The Revolutionary army is stationed throughout, they have been fighting this war from the start and wouldn't miss out on its first serious battle. Dragon appointed Sabo the leader of their forces in this fight.

Many of the Supernova, no longer considered rookies, are present on the battlefield. Hawkins and Apoo fight in close proximity to Kid and Killer. While Bonney is on the other side, fighting and eating near Law. Law would be displeased with her mannerisms slightly if he weren't focused on Pet. His worry had spiked when learned of her capture and the announcement of her execution as the starting point for the war. While discussing tactics with Luffy and Kid, Luffy informed them that Shanks had lost to Blackbeard.

Law had never really let himself get attached to any one, but Pet was like a mother or motherly older sister to him. She was there for him in childhood and he could never repay her for saving his life and helping him achieve his dreams. Maybe, just maybe, he could repay her now.

* * *

The Fleet Admiral offers a wicked smile from his perch next to the kneeling demon, although her arms spreadeagled gives her a more holy appearance. She's going to die for all her sins, and the sins committed by her fellow pirates, by her younger brother who unleashed hell upon the world. "Looks like they're getting serious about saving you, Pet. No matter, it was inevitable that scum like you could fail to escape justice. We have a surprise coming up anyways."

Pet's cloudy eyes stare vacantly on the vast expanse of island. Ships border the entire coast as far as the eye can see on either side, all trying to converge on her, to save her. Many people and pirates joined the war purely to repay her for helping them throughout the years. Maybe that was her problem, she couldn't bear to stay in her village for too long so she spent too much effort helping others.

Akainu looks at Pet, she wears a dark blue turtleneck jacket, zipped up to her throat, with matching pants, no shoes. Her emotions are all gone, it gives the magma man shivers as he averts his eyes, for a second, it was as though he were looking at a corpse.

* * *

_Everything burns!_

_His red eyes never stray from my body. I wasn't prepared for this. I was just trying... I can't think about that now! I tear open my eyes despite the heat, I see his own widened, good, he knows he went too far._

_I feel my skin crackling and melting. My blood is boiling, my skin is charring. The fire won't get off. No matter how hard I thrash and roll around in the dirt, it won't leave me. It won't be satisfied until I'm just a pile of dust. This realization riles my rebelliousness to dying when most would like me to, but I know I can't fight it. Already my strength is being torched._

_Finally his voice cuts through my sizzling ears, "That's enough, boys. I think she's had enough."_

_You think!? You bastard!_

_A growl rumbles in my throat as I slowly lose the ability to move anymore. Every time I try, I just feel the burning stinging of my open wounds. Even my precious hair is singed. He smiles down at me even as the flames still engulf my entire body. Now I merely lay twitching occasionally on the floor, but my red eyes still shine through the flames. He's unaffected by my gaze, an oddity I discovered upon meeting him years ago._

_I see his nose crinkled, right, I must reek of burning flesh. Take that ya asshole! There's guilt behind his satanic eyes, "I doubt even you could survive this, Pet. To help you out, how about you go for a swim?" His voice may be hard, but I can sense his hunger for dishing mercy. He didn't think that scorching someone would be this gruesome. I can't even complain, it's not like I've never tortured anyone in worse ways. I could always make them beg for mercy. My punishments for these past actions are always really extreme though. It's only fair, I guess._

_I can't even breathe for fear of inhaling the flames and fumes and giving myself internal damage. I withhold the gasp as he walks toward me with the burning barn behind him casting a glow. The fire really brings out the red tips of his raven hair. If he weren't my enemy and a major thorn in my pad, I'd almost call him handsome... But no! He's a fucking despicable human being who should be wiped off the face of this planet, because he sucks dick. Yeah, I resorted to that childish shaming, but I'm kind of dying over here so I don't have the energy to think up clever insults._

_He gives a sharp kick to my side and I go flying with my blood spilling over the edge of the cliff. A sheer drop of deceiving heights now that I'm descending to the black ocean. Maybe a Sea King will gobble me up, smell my blood and hunt me, the prey, down. He tracked me down and pursued me through this farming island when I ran through the barn to the back only to find I'd reached the end of the line. I just wanted some alone time, and here I am getting dowsed in the ever burning flames, fired at me through the new toys Vegapunk devised._

_I begin my descent to the ocean below, at least I can breathe slightly with the wind lessening the flame's strength. Even then, it's not a happy fall, I receive flashbacks of all the wounds I suffered as a child. The pain from them ebbs at my nerves, spurring me to experience them anew. I'm going to die... And I won't even get to tell Shanks..._

_The pain and agony, the fear, force me to release an ear splitting scream that's cut from my throat as I hit the surface of the water, although it feels more like I crashed through a solid mountain. I slip beneath the surface and while the flames are officially put out, the salt adds a new stinging pain. I murmur as I fall into the depths, not even the strength to protest. Sleep will be good, I can't really open my burned eyelids either anyways. Darkness consumes me._

_My dreams are gut wrenching and painful, a never ending labyrinth of pain and solitude. Forgive me for leaving you, Shanks._

_I can hear the shrill notes continually stabbing my ear drums, I won't ever be rid of them._

_I wake up crying into his chest, as his good arm strokes my hair and he whispers sweet nothings in my ear. I can't let go of him, "Sh-Shanks," I sob._

_I feel him kiss my hair, "You're awake finally?"_

_I nod into his tear-stained shirt. His rough hand traces my arm before resting on my clenched hand, grasping his shirt like a lifeline._

_He simply holds me close, "Everyone was worried."_

_The tears don't stop flowing at the memory of the fire, "I thought I was dead." I've never felt so utterly helpless._

_I feel him smile and my puffy eyes look to his light smile, "I'd never let you leave without saying goodbye."_

_My lip quivers and he bends slightly to press his lips to mine. Strength seems to transfer into me and I release my grip on his shirt to brush his jaw and run another hand through his hair. Then I pull away and sit up, he smiles at me. I cock my head, "How did you know I was in trouble?"_

_"One of my connections told me about Tetsuya's direction, and I remembered which way you went."_

_I nod and sigh as I look down at the bandages covering parts of my body. "How long have I been out?"_

_Shanks frowns slightly, "Weeks, at first you were too burned to move, but as you got better you seemed to have nightmares and would... Point is, you're better now, and the crew will want to see you soon."_

_I offer a shy smile, envisioning how I must have screamed and thrashed and cried. "Did you fish me out?"_

_He laughs, but there's an edge to it, "Of course."_

_I nod once, with a lump in my throat, he must have thought I was going to die too._

I can't help remembering this, it was at my darkest hour, when I truly thought I was at death's door. Shanks was there to pull me away from it, and I remember how our crew mates told me how he never left my room, he never left my side, not while I still needed him. They told me how he'd carry me outside and make sure I got enough moonlight. I always thought I was my own hero, but in that moment, Shanks was my hero. Where's my hero now? Where's my husband? Where was I, when he needed me?

I can't helping moaning in my grief, pining at my lost love. I can't save him, and he can't save me. This is fair. This is our end.

* * *

Others do not agree with Pet's deduction. The battle gets bloodier by the minute as multitudes of pirates and Marines clash along the coast. The scene likens to that of D Day, only heavy artillery is not being shot at the pirates landing ashore. Near Law's section, a plethora of body parts are being flown everywhere, while Bonney chomps on her pizza, seeming to pull the slices out of her jacket pockets. Around her, soldiers are becoming aged or toddlers, children. Leading the eastern front of the Revolutionary army is Aokiji. His ice has frozen his former comrades and he walks with his eyes set on Pet. On the Western front, Kid and his allies create the bloodier mess, as Kid renders most Marines defenseless by taking their metal items only to injure and mortally wound them with a massive "Repel!"

The difference in power is shown when Law smirks and forms a massive Room over the eastern side he fights upon, using the Personality Transplant Surgery over every enemy. They gain the upper hand in the confusion that follows, downing hundreds before they can even grasp what's happened. Kid passes a glance to his rival's work, and his excitement and passion riles. Summoning all of the metal to a massive point far above his head, but it's not just the weapons and such that he's attracting to that one point, whatever lies beneath the sand of the beach, the pipes nearer the mainland uproot and hit the enemies as they travel to the massive meteor forming.

Kid laughs maniacally as he drops the meteor onto his foes and lets it crush them, rolling. Killer shakes his head at his Captain. Needless to say, the battle is much bloodier on the Western side.

A great blast of fire pillars to the sky as Sabo, now expert in his devil fruit, wastes no time in clearing his path to Pet. Luffy wears a hearty grin with his arm still stretching behind him, only to snap to the front and knock a row of Marines into next week. Other pirate Captains and leaders of the varying allies annihilate many Marines standing in their way, getting more and more optimistic about this battle's outcome.

The Fleet Admiral, Akainu, watches their fruitless efforts. He seems to address Pet when he says, "Let's bring out the surprise now." The Marines guarding around the platform alert the others as they begin preparing. Akainu takes his megaphone so he can project, "Pet is not the only criminal answering for the crimes of the past..." There is a collective notice and expressions of shock at the information. Who is else is there? Is it someone else they know and love? Pet's matted and bloody hair is carried by a calm ocean breeze while her dead eyes continue staring at nothing. "We have two others who will be joining her in execution, they're the descendants of the greatest enemy the World Government has ever faced! These two are Uchiha!"

None can know the gravity of the name, except those who've heard the legend. A certain swordsman falters at the mentioning of the name.

At the ground level of the island where the war is taking place on the beach, one form is ushered forward. She wears rags and carries a small bundle in her arms. She's not in Pet's sight; Pet's platform is situated in front of the imposing Marine Headquarters where the platform meets the ground, the ground is actually atop a smaller hill, implying that Luffy and his fellow rescuers would have to climb a bit to reach her. The children were brought out from an opening in the base which connects through a tunnel into the building behind Pet.

The den den mushi focuses on the two forms and they are projected to the world. They're going to execute the Uchiha children. Two Marines at the base have to grab the small girl by the arms and drag her struggling form forward. She can't fight too hard because of the baby in her arms, she screams, "Let me go, you barbarians! You killed my parents! You murdered my people!" Even as she says it, her voice cracks at the bombarding memories from the attack.

Across the battlefield, Luffy rushes to their aide, but many Marines seem to concentrate their efforts. Some Admirals stand to guard the prisoners, wearing disgusted faces. They're either disgusted at what they're about to do or that the children even exist. Akainu raises a brow at Pet's blank features, "Dead already, scum?"

The Marines forcing the girl out, stop at the awaiting executioner, she and the baby will be killed by gun shots. The executioner wears a grin as he polishes his glinting revolver. The girl shakes her head in horror as she tries to break free and seems to crush the baby in her arms. She grows more fearful of her fate by the second, more afraid of the fate of the younger in her arms. Her baby brother will never get to meet his family. What an awful way to go. She looks at the agitated baby and thinks of the loss, he hasn't even developed his eye color or shape yet. Her own purplish teal eyes pool with tears and she looks back at the entrance she emerged from. Her gaze follows up the hill to the screens demonstrating Pet on the raised platform.

She recognizes the woman, and she kicks up a new storm as she screams to her, "Auntie! What are you doing!? They're going to kill us! Auntie, please!"

Her small voice carries much weight as gasps of surprise ring out from the allies, none really knew of Pet's lineage. Mihawk and Shanks were the first to know, until Shanks pressed her to inform her brothers. They were pondering where she always went and she finally told them in secrecy, only a small paraphrased version and not the whole truth about the Void Century. Law narrows his eyes at the screens, he's leading the forces towards the left while Kid leads the charges to the far right. He never knew Pet had siblings or a real family, he always assumed she was an orphan like him. She certainly acts like one.

Luffy gets closer and closer, but not close enough as the Admirals tag team him. Even he has difficulty taking on two at once, Admirals are not to be underestimated, Pet is proof of that, her being a former Admiral.

The young girl grows heartbroken as her aunt doesn't even twitch at her pleas. Akainu's smirk grows wider, he's broken her. Finally, her niece is forced to her knees and the gun is pointed straight at her head. She sobs, "Please, Auntie, save us." She clutches the baby in her arms. The child is upset at the salty water falling on his face.

* * *

The darkness was supposed to shield her, deflect any outside interference with her death wish. Then, the darnedest thing happened, a high voice stirs her from her deadened thoughts.

"Auntie!"

_There's no one left alive to call me that. My family is all dead. They said so... I heard the gunshots and screams. I heard them beating my brother so his grunts would be heard over the den den mushi. They're all dead... So why am I hearing ghosts? Am I already dead? Did God finally give me my wish simply because I wished it, did he make an exception? He let me go and now I can be with my family and my love?_

Her heart quickens at the hope that she doesn't have to wait to be reunited with the love of her life. Then she hears, "What are you doing!? They're going to kill us! Auntie, please!"

_If this is heaven then they wouldn't be calling for help, would they? Maybe we all went to hell then? ... She said kill... but we're all dead right!? _

Water builds in her eyes, rain is getting ready to streak down her cheeks at the thought, _Who am I kidding? God will never show me mercy. I'm still alive, why can't people just let me die? Shanks isn't here anymore, sorry kids, I'm done with this life._

She crouches on the balls of her feet, however, with her hands extended and folded in front of her, while her elbows rest along her curled knees. Her brow is hanging as she scowls in thought, a battle rages inside her. She's in the black hole of her mind.

Her instincts to preserve the Uchiha are threatening to overcome her, her entire purpose for existing. _They're just kids, and siblings. We'll never be able to bring the Uchiha back. There's no need for them to be saved. And Shanks... He's waiting... Can I really keep him waiting? I can just save them then off myself, right? Give them to Nami's care, she likes children. They'll be well cared for._

Pet broods for the moment and her lip curls in anger. She's like an insomniac bear awoken from hibernation. She feels like she won't ever be able to truly get back to sleep just because of how hard it is proving to be to her.

Then, as clear as day, "Please, Auntie, save us."

Her lips thin and she mutters, "Well, fuck me."

* * *

Life returns to Pet as she grits her teeth, breaking her bonds as a new power seems to awaken inside her. She won't play the martyr today, maybe next time. Her clawed hands dig into the wood of the platform and she's propelled forward. A shot rings out.

The battlefield is silent as the screen shows Pet's first act of defiance to the Marines' plans.

The little raven opens her eyes to the shadow shielding her from the revolver's muzzle. Pet didn't have the time to get them out of the way, she only had time to position herself in front of the shot. Smoke wisps from the revolver, and Pet's softened features barely manage to mask the sharp glint in her eyes. "Azara..." Pet takes a knee and wipes the child's tears away, she's around six years old, and the bundle is almost two.

Azara blinks as more tears gradually fall, "A-Auntie, you came." She's coming to the realization that she just might get to live.

Pet nods, "I heard a niece of mine crying and it bothered me." Although her words and expression show care, Azara can hear the masked anger in Pet's tone, she can see the glint of daggers hidden in Pet's eyes.

Azara fights back a torrent of sadness, and she sobs, "They killed everyone!"

Pet merely blinks calmly at the girl, "It's what people do. Watch, I'll show you." Azara doesn't grasp Pet's meaning as her only candidate for guardian stands. Pet looks about her at the silent Marines, too shocked to move.

She offers a cold smirk, "What? Did you think you really had me? You only had me because I allowed it." Partly true, she's just glad Tetsuya isn't around to tussle with her. She's never been able to really destroy him, their fights usually end in a draw, having to be dragged away from each other by his subordinates or her friends.

Her attention is drawn to clicking of the megaphone, and Akainu's gruff voice snaps the Marines from their stupor, "What are you fools doing!? Kill them!"

Pet smiles with all her teeth sharpening, she grins at the executioner with the gun. Her arm pierces straight through his heart, "Don't ever point a gun at my family."

Marines litter the air as they all seem to plan a dog pile while others have fired projectiles of different sorts.

Something has happened within Pet, however, she grew just now, mentally. She takes Azara and her brother in her arms ascending above the rest. She's level with the platform with all the Marines beneath her, she sucks in a deep breath and bellows an earth shaking howl. Many bodies seem to have traveled a bit farther below sea level. She frees one hand and sends slashes.

She falters slightly and lands with grunt on the ground below, still near the base of the hill with more assailants running to end her. She stumbles and drops the kids, her expression troubled.

"Auntie, what's wrong?"

Pet shakes her head before something snaps inside her, she howls in pain. Instead of extensions of her nails, her claws, her fingers seems to form into great talons protruding from her palms. She leans forward on her hands and knees while she feels bones breaking and reforming in her back, she groans.

"Auntie!?"

Pet shivers and her strained and sweaty face looks to the Marines closing in. She growls at them and Azara crinkles her nose at the smell of rotten eggs wafting from Pet's mouth. Pet's back arches and she growls, clawing the earth. Her skin seems to harden and widen, a truly painful process, like she's turning into a moving statue. When a Marine aims and fires for Azara's face, Pet sticks her hand out to take the bullet, but to her surprise, it ricochets off her palm. Her widened eyes turn to the dirt beneath her, "It's happening," she whispers.

"It? You mean?"

Luffy and the others are closing in quick to defend her, Pet blinks in shock. The realization seems to mature her even more. _I lost my happiness, was on the brink of death, wanted with every fiber of my being to die, but brought myself back to live for others instead of myself, to sacrifice my own happiness and peace? Is that what coming of age means? I find a way to carry on after reaching the bottom, even though I'd rather take the easy way out? I desperately wanted to die, was resigned to the fact, but I see these kids and this war, and I know it will be a rough road without me. Is that what Yuki did? Is this how she felt when she saw her people dying and couldn't afford to die, she had to get them out at least?_

Pet closes her eyes, two drops spill onto the ground as she smiles slightly, _I see._

She stands and leaves her niece and nephew to meet her enemies, ignoring the pain of her transformation. Bullets bounce off her forming scales. Her sharpening teeth are a menace as well as her talons. She slices throats, stabs, chomps on various Marines, in a fever. Her bloodlust seems to build as she slashes up her enemies.

Pet creates a major dent in the forces of the Marines in no time, Luffy and company are feet away as well, but the Marines circle around her to at least take out the other Uchiha. Pet's attention is diverted when Akainu stands over them with dripping magma. He smirks at her, "Scum must be eradicated." Look who decided to get up off his ass.

She smiles at him and her eyes seem to shift to a white with a light blue tint. A great poof occurs as she transforms fully, she clenches her teeth at the pain. Then a giant alabaster dragon blows the cloud away with a roar that shakes the earth. She opens her mouth and spews fire at the Admiral, not worrying over the kids getting burned. He blows back at the force and groans as he seems to go aflame, but not his own. Her deep and gravelly voice hisses, "You burned a hole through my brother's heart many years ago, Fleet Admiral. Now, I have the capability to turn you to ash. Do you know what it's like to get burned?"

Fire builds in her throat and she unleashes it on him and he howls, she extends her neck and snaps her great jaws on his torso, instantly killing him. Much too easy. His blood paints her white scales around her mouth before she drops his lifeless body and swings over to eye the other enemies. Her lip curls in anticipation, "Who's next?"

Her enormous wings spread and she lifts off and releases an inferno across the battlefield while her tail wacks the antagonists surrounding her. Azara watches the destruction in awe and fear, but the fear vanishes when she considers how Pet literally fired on Akainu who was right past her. The fire felt cold to her, like wind passing over her. It wasn't crackling or hot like how it appeared on the Fleet Admiral, she was unaffected, as was her brother.

Luffy experiences something similar when Pet blows her white fire across the battlefield until it reaches him. He's in the flame's path, but he doesn't burn. She cleared the path to her and Luffy steps forward, "Pet, do you know?"

Her giant eye lands on him, regarding him simply. He frowns at her and she continues raging across the battlefield, taking out enemies like they were nothing but flies. She continues for a short time before staggering on her feet. She's a dragon for mere minutes, less than ten. Most are already fleeing as they realize they can't hope to best a dragon. Two Admirals are left to lead the war, but they order the rest to retreat while trying to dish out punishment to Pet. Their attacks do nothing, Pet has completed her transformation, yet, why does she feel so lightheaded?

Her serpent head swings around and her vision blurs before she tumbles to the floor breathing heavily. There's a powerful gust of wind generated from her body before her human form is seen on the ground. She lays on her stomach while her sight fades. She can't mistake the taste of copper in her mouth. It's okay, she can rest now. Luffy and Sabo and Law will take care of the rest.

"Auntie!"

Pet could cry as she recognizes the voice of fear for their own life instead of fear for Pet's. Her gaze shifts to the swordsman about to cut down her brother's children. Another shift in the air however, and Pet's eyes widen when the sword cuts down her shoulder, almost reaching her heart. It's enough. Pet blinks before grabbing their arm holding the saber, and slamming them back with her free hand. The blow is dealt straight to their heart, and the jolt stops it while sending them flying backwards. The sword is still buried in her chest and her eyes travel over the wound.

She smiles as blood trails from her lips, and she falls to her knees before landing on her side. An uproar unlike any other stirs across the beach, Luffy slams a Marine aiming his rifle at her into the ground and rushes to her, he reaches her first with others following. The Marines retreat, some wear devious smiles, they didn't accomplish nothing this battle. He shakes her, "Pet!"

Pet's eyes peer lifelessly out, she's gone already.

He clenches his teeth, shaking her. As if enough tears hadn't already been shed, he can't stop them as grief shreds his heart, he failed... again.

All the pirates are able to run to them, most keep a respectful distance away while the various leaders step forward and crowd around the female. Her niece cries softly and the babe, usually quiet, screams in distress.

Law stands staring at Pet's expression, she wears a peacefully content smile. He looks away briefly as his vision clouds because of sadness. He'd always pictured Corazon with that smile in his own death. Robin, one of the few who had a type of kinship with her, also fights back her own grief, she remembers the talks she''d have with Pet when she came to visit. Pet told her how they would have a lot to talk about after she learned the true history, she told Robin that even if she found the Poneglyph, she wouldn't have the whole story. Sabo kneels beside his brother, in the end, his presence hadn't made a difference.

Law grabs everyone's attention by stepping forward, "Sh-She's had worse, we still might be able to resuscitate her?" His doctor's knowledge made him realize she hadn't died of blood loss, there wasn't much blood pooling around her, and if it was just shock, then they could still bring her back. Besides, he's not ready to give her up just yet...

Luffy nods and lays her down on the sand, removing the sword, while Law places his palms in the middle of her chest. He begins pushing to a rhythm to try to restart her heart.

* * *

Pet blinks at the light surrounding her. She doesn't see it coming when she's tackled to the floor. She squirms in someone's grasp, "Hey! Who is this!?"

Her eyes adjust, and she stares into the tan face smiling down at her. Her gaze softens instantly and she cups his cheeks, holding him in place, grounding him. A stream of water slips down her face, "Shanks," she murmurs.

He grins and she realizes he's holding himself up by two arms. "Your arm."

He nods, and his voice is music to her ears, "Sorry I couldn't make it. Luffy and everyone are waiting for you, great White Dragon Empress." His tone is light, but his words are heavy to her heart.

She whispers, "Are you sending me away?" The light had made her think it was heaven, but maybe she's in hell. Shanks could never be a damned soul, not like hers. The agony of her thoughts stiffen her muscles. They'll have to fight to take her away from Shanks... But, what if he really doesn't want her now that they're dead? Is love merely a thing in life, or does it truly extend into the afterlife?

He shakes his head, "Nope, I love you, and I'll always wait for you to come back. If you don't, I'll come get you myself." He laughs heartily and Pet bites her lip, she can't help the relief at his words. He saw her troubled expression and worked to ease her mind, one of the many reasons she loves him. He understands her, also, he gives her a place to call home. Still, she can't help the defiance in never getting as she wishes. She gets a chance to be with him and she has to leave him? No way.

"I don't want to go back, I just want to die. I'm tired. I want to stay here with you."

"I'm not going anywhere. Your niece and nephew need you. The world still needs you. You can end the war, end it for me. I'm not able to stop it by merely being there anymore. You still have so much life left in you, don't let him die before he's had the chance to live."

Pet sucks in a breath at his words, she averts her gaze in shame, "Right, you know. I never got the chance to tell you."

Shanks leans in and shares a gentle kiss. "You'll break many hearts if you stay. Can you live with that?"

Pet tackles him so she's atop him, "No." She kisses his forehead, lingering for a moment before, "I don't think I can live without you either."

Shanks blinks at her calmly, bringing her to lay atop him, he smiles, while one hand ghosts at the bottom hem of her shirt, "You'll have a piece of me with you."

Pet nods, "I love you."

* * *

Law checks her pulse and finds nothing. He moves to do more chest compression before a hand on his shoulder holds him back. He meets the frowning face and has his eyes reflected back to him in the glasses. The lanky man tells him, "It's over. Let her go."

Law shakes the man's hand off, he can't accept it, Pet can't die. "I don't take orders from you." Even as he says that, he can't bring himself to continue. He couldn't help noticing the hint of remorse in the Heavenly Demon's face, it bugs him. Pet couldn't let Corazon's brother be executed, Cora wouldn't have wanted it. She singlehandedly broke him out, as both an act for Cora and an act to piss off the Navy. Even then, she kept Doffy on a tight leash, he didn't get to go around being a villain. And through the years, the demon began to reform slightly, he's still a pompous douche-bag, but not as bad as he was.

Law buries his face in his hands while Luffy seems to brace himself on the floor.

They barely hear the whisper of Azara, "She can't be dead."

Pet's eyes remain half open, watching the darkening sky, until the sprinkles begin falling. A huge breath of air expands her chest and she twitches silently. Her gaze darts around the place before she sits upright, with her hand on her chest. Many step back in shock before Luffy cries out and bear hugs her. Sabo joins him. They can't believe she's alive. She's okay. Everything is going to be okay.

It's only until Azara screams, "You're killing her!" They realize, she's fainted and limp in their arms. Many yell at Luffy and Sabo for the idiocy in gripping an injured woman, their eyes have collectively widened in shock. Wasn't she dead? How could she die? Law shakes his head in confusion, expressing the information everyone knows about the mighty Pet, "She's had way worse wounds before, this cut should be nothing." None saw her take any damage, except the gun shot, during the whole war, so Law frowns while taking her hand. He notes the blood covering it, he had assumed before that it was just from the cut, but as he pulls the long sleeve up, he grimaces at the cuts and marks marring her skin. He shakes his head, "No way."

His audience seems to share collective moments of realization as Law's nimble fingers pull down the zipper at her throat. He pulls it down a ways to her chest. The sight makes him look away. Doffy growls slightly under his breath, seeming to remember his own brushes with torture. Her skin is littered with wounds from burns and cuts, punctured areas, bruises. All over her body, yet, the Marines had the forethought to leave her face intact for the execution.

Luffy growls, "Why would they do this?"

Doffy smiles, "Fufu, don't you realize, boy? Everybody was looking for one person when the Red Line went down."

Luffy glares at him before he seems to grasp Doffy's line of thinking. Nami squeezes his shoulder and he stares at the ground, clenching his teeth, "They wanted her to tell them where I was?"

Kid mutters, "Knowing Pet, it was probably in her power to find out."

Luffy shakes his head, "No, she lost that power when Tetsuya burned her alive."

Zoro gruffly reasons, "They probably wouldn't have believed her if she told them."

Silence settles on the group as Law checks her pulse to make sure she's still with them. He feels her weak heart beat, before picking her up and beginning the walk to his ship. Nami steps toward Azara and her brother before the child dashes past them to follow after Pet. Her brother still murmurs slightly for food.

Luffy moves to follow before ordering, "The Marines won't stop here. Go to your positions, we still have a war to fight." His allies nod before dispersing to take care of the wounded and prepare for the next round. Even while Law had a group to await Pet's results, the battlefield was still alive with pirates trying to aide their fallen.

Luffy and Sabo follow close behind Law, while a few others trail after them, some of the Straw Hats move to take care of other things while Law calls some of his crew to meet at their ship. Chopper gallops next to him in his beast form.

Azara is agile for her age and has no trouble keeping up with the adults. She stays by Pet and when her Aunt's hand waves in the air. The child maintains a hold on her brother, while also reaching out and grasping her last family member's hand. Now she gets to act as a lifeline to her savior, she wants Pet to stay, she needs someone familiar. Even if the hand she holds is dripping blood, at least she's familiar.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I know I'm awful and made you guys wait way too long for the **continuation**. The thing is, I had readily planned to just end Demon Wolf where it was, but then a funny thing happened... PET WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE. Now, if you're a writer or maybe you can just imagine, every character is a voice in my head, incessantly telling me their story whether I want it or not. If I don't share it, then it gets crowded in my head. Well, Pet wouldn't leave me alone, telling me "You know where my story ends. Tell it. Fucking tell it. Tell them about the pain and hardships." She was fricking pissing me off with her ordering me around, so here it is just to get her out. Consider this the continuation, a sort of **part two**, but it won't be as long, and there will be no open ending. I'm writing this story until Pet's _dead_ now, but don't worry I still see like at least ten more chapters in Pet's future. Also, people keep following this story and I feel bad...

Anyways, sincerely hope ya'll enjoyed, and that you aren't too mad at me. Have at it, give me your thoughts on the story, it will be purely based off my _theory_ of One Piece's end, purely speculation from this point on. Review, Follow, Favorite...


	26. Awakening to Challenges

_Enjoy._

* * *

_I look into my lover's eyes, from this day onward, I get to call him husband. I tilt to the side and press my lips ever so sweetly against his. We can't risk a fire in front of all these eyes. He holds back his hunger as well, the beast in him wants to claim me for his own just as much as mine wants to claim him. We part to the clapping and cheering of our friends and crew mates. He grins at me and winks, then turns to the massive crowd, "Let's party! It's a banquet!"_

_We all laugh heartily and run into the building where the many cooks from the different ships prepared the food for our wedding. The musicians all team up and fill the air with wonderful and jolly music. It's not the most traditional wedding. There won't be any speeches, just lots of fun. I can't help the euphoria of happiness swelling in my chest. I know this is the happiest day of my life. Luffy and his crew are here as well as Law's. Kid was brief when we were beginning, but he gruffly congratulated us before leaving. I'm sure Law would've rather left as well, but he was coerced by Luffy to stay and join in the fun, and his crew wished to remain with them. Whitebeard's leftovers were most prominent in filling the seats. They consider me family as I do them. Sabo and his teammates have to leave early, but they look on with mirth in their eyes. _

_Shanks leads me out to the dance floor in my sparkling white dress. It was sent to me with no note or address, but I could smell his scent on the box, Monkey D. Garp. I burst out laughing at the sight of it and the smell, somehow relieved that I had his approval. Despite the past, I couldn't deny the significance of that man in my life. He was one of the steps to my salvation, to my hope for a life. _

_I twirl away from my redhead, and we both face each other across the dance floor. I smirk and challenge, "Are you ready?"_

_Shanks slams his fist on his chest with a wide grin, "Always." _

_There's a slow beat to our walk and we take each other's hands while I place one on his shoulder and he slides his free around my back. We move slowly to the beat, gaining speed steadily, before I dip backwards and he steadies me... We both smile wide, and I feel my cheeks flare up. One moment of romance, before the Soul King slides in strumming his guitar like a maniac. We both stand and are joined by others as they all begin to dance and sing to the famous songs. It was all so much fun, truly the happiest day of my life..._

Pet rubs her face at the memory, wiping it away. She sits in her haven in her mind, thinking of all the things she won't have time for when she wakes up. She's reminiscing and can't help revisiting her flame. He won't be there when she wakes up. She can't ever return to him for comfort. Once she wakes up, she's going to have to fight, knowing that her home is destroyed. She's going to have to fight Tetsuya and win for her friends. How can she? She's never won before, and how can she even consider killing him when she knows what she does now? Not only that, their fight is bound to have repercussions. Who will she lose in the process?

So many questions flutter in her mind, with not an answer to any. She won't be able to answer them until she wakes up and faces the problems plaguing her friends and the world. She can't muster up the strength, however. She fears what more she will lose. She fears what she does not know.

* * *

The smell of chemicals fill the air and the sound of the soft breathing of the one patient who has yet to wake up from her weeks long slumber. Her large chest rises and falls in a steady rhythm. Footsteps echo down the thin hall, heading towards her room. The door opens with a light click and three large men enter the infirmary.

One walks to her side and he reaches and grasps her limp hand. "Is it okay that she hasn't woken up yet?" Those obsidian eyes fall on the only doctor in the room.

The raven meets the Pirate King's gaze, "Physically, she was fit to wake up a week ago. I don't know what's keeping her."

The pale redhead reasons, "Maybe it's Shanks."

Law and Luffy turn to Pet's serene expression. She can't still be suffering with that expression, right? Luffy shakes his head, "We need her to wake up. She's the only one who has a chance of beating Tetsuya." The man had been causing a lot of trouble for Luffy and his forces, searching for Law's submarine so he can execute Pet himself. Law and Kid watch Luffy's features shimmer with a temporary rage before a calm settles. They understand. He's supposed to be the great Pirate King, on top of the era, but his power is worthless compared to the might of his older sister and her only real adversary. Luffy could hold his own against either, but as time passes, his strength would wear down quickly. Even Pet found the man increasingly difficult to deal with.

Her free hand twitches, Law quirks a brow. After her lids flutter slightly, Kid turns to Law's pensive face. "Is she waking up?"

Law takes a moment before answering, "She should've woken up a week ago. Maybe..." Law mentally sifts through the information he's gathered over the years from Pet's various explanations of her devil fruit powers. As if it were a blow to his pride and image, he hesitantly reaches for her free hand, while Luffy keeps a hold of the other.

Kid questions, "What're you doing, Trafalgar?" Law ignores him, he knows he's not being judged, but he feels uncomfortable holding hands with his mother-like figure.

Law addresses the sleeping woman, "Pet, tell us what's wrong."

_"__Tell Eustass to put his hand on her arm...__"_

He knows Luffy heard it too when they share surprised looks. Kid looks between them, "What?"

Luffy shakes his head with a grin spreading, "Hey, put your hand on her arm. This is going to be interesting."

As soon as Kid's skin touches her, there's a connection. Without even blinking, they're all three in a barren land, new greens are barely beginning to grow. The moon and a distant fire are the only sources of light. Luffy doesn't miss a beat as he walks toward the campfire. The other two don't delay in following him.

When they're almost upon it, a shadow seems to materialize from beside them. They jump in shock at Pet's massive wolf form. The light from the fire shows its gleaming eyes. As it blocks some of the light, thereby blocking their progress to the fire, it watches them in interest.

Law narrows his eyes, "Pet-san?"

Luffy answers for them, shaking his head, "This isn't Pet." The form morphs into a tall man in black garments. His hair is spiked and brown, while his eyes continue to glow a brilliant yellow.

"Very good Luffy. I'm not, she's over by the fire."

Luffy shifts as he recognizes, "You're the voice?"

Daray shrugs, "I called you all in here without her knowledge. Not that she's doing much to prevent me from trying to help her, but..." He trails off as he considers Pet's condition.

Law presses, "What's wrong with her?"

Daray shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair with a strained visage, "She's tired of life. I'm not sure if she thinks she's dead or not. It seems like she would want to be dead, but she isn't talking to me..." Daray shivers at the memory of the cold shoulder, he asks awkwardly, "I'm here, right? You fellas see and hear me, right?" His hidden fear shows, what if he didn't actually come back? Did he even ever leave? He doesn't remember. He only remembers waking up, shivering in the cold as his memory returned to him.

Kid offers an awkward smirk, "Yeah man, we hear you, see you. Let's go get Pet. It's time for her to wakey wakey." Kid brushes past Daray, leading the charge to the fire where she's supposed to be. Law follows soon after, intrigued to see Pet in a weakened state or some other. He always misses seeing her weakened. Luffy told him of the one time Pet crossed paths with him on the run. Sabo had the privilege of dragging her off a battlefield when she and Tetsuya first met and exchanged blows while getting to know each other a little. She was infuriated and wanted to continue, but she was losing a lot of blood as was he. Law was told they both had to be separated. And sure, Law got to carry her off the beach at her execution, but the occurrences when Pet is in need of help are few and far between.

Luffy stays behind, eyeing Daray, "What's your name?"

Daray turns back to him from watching Law and Kid move off toward the fire. "I'm Daray... Brace yourself. We should join them."

Luffy nods and the two men step into the light from the fire, which also illuminates Pet's extended legs and crossed arms, sitting across with her eyes never leaving the fire. Law and Kid stand near her, but the distant look in her eyes has them wondering if she's actually there, or just in another recess of her mind. Luffy crouches beside her before the other two close in. Daray shakes his head and clears his throat, "Instead of looking at her, try making out what she's seeing."

Law follows her line of sight into the flames, a frown is defined as he sees images dancing in them. They're hazy and hard to look at from the heat generated by the fire. Daray stands behind her, "I can't make out what she's seeing."

Kid and Luffy ponder the images as well. Luffy voices, "There's a man and a woman... They're fighting... They seem pretty equal." He cocks his head at the next images silhouetted by the flames.

Law adds, "They're destroying everything."

Kid narrows his eyes at Pet, addressing her, "The fight with Tetsuya won't be that bad. He can't be allowed to run wild. The government wouldn't allow him to destroy islands with faithful followers."

Law lowers his eyes and stares at the ground for a moment. "I doubt she's worried about those people." His doctor sense is tingling. Daray stands with his arms crossed, watching Law. Not even he knows what he's referring to.

Law sighs, "She's not coming out, we can't win this fight. We'll have to find another way to deal with Tetsuya." He stands and begins walking away.

Luffy and Kid rise to start to question him, when Pet's authoritative and definitive voice reaches them, "I'll come out in a bit." Daray takes a step back in shock. Law turns and shares a momentary glance with Pet, before her eyes shift back to the flames.

Luffy calls, "Pet! Are you okay!? What are you waiting for?" Pet merely ignores them all. Law blinks at her before completely leaving the light of the fire.

Kid follows and demands, "Oi, Trafalgar! What do you know? What are you hiding?"

Luffy frowns as he watches them go before turning back to her, "I'll see you when you come out. Everyone's waiting for you to come back." He offers a smile before sprinting to catch up. Daray slumps after he takes a seat beside Pet.

He watches her hardened features, "When did you stop telling me things?"

The three visitors come to and retract their touch from Pet. Kid grabs Law by the collar, growling, "What are you hiding?"

Luffy pipes up, "Calm down, Kiddy. Torao, why were you so sure Nee-chan wouldn't come out?"

Law grabs Kid's arm and makes him release his collar. Then he seems to decide the pros and cons of informing the two of Pet's state.

* * *

The lights seem to ignite her mind as soon as her eyes are open. They close once more and shutter as she begins moving around in bed. She grabs her head with a hand and grounds herself slowly. Then she sits up and swings over her legs. She hunches her shoulders in her tired state with her bare feet braced against the linoleum floor. She sighs and inspects her room, frowning slightly, _No one's waiting for me to get up? I thought they needed me to take care of this chump Tetsuya. _She smirks slightly and tries to squash the hope that she really doesn't have to fight him again. Taking a deep breath, she gets up without difficulty and shifts into her lumbering wolf form. She shakes out her sleek black fur before stalking to the door and following her nose to food. She doesn't want people to humanize her, she's a deadly animal who relies solely on instinct, no human feeling here.

The mess hall is barely filled; many of Law's crew are still at work at their station. Luffy, Nami, Zoro, Law, Doflamingo, and Azara with her baby brother make up one table, while some of Law's crew mates make up another. Silence falls on the group when Pet's form slips from the shadows of the hall into the room. Nami and Zoro look between Luffy and his sister. Her yellow eyes travel calmly over the faces, before the quietude is disrupted by Azara's outcry.

The young girl runs to her aunt before stopping a respectful distance away, wary of the great fangs in her mouth, although the girl obviously just wants to embrace her and cry into her shoulder. Azara hops up and down with her brother in her arms, "Auntie! You're alright! I was afraid you were never going to wake up! Then so much has been happening!" Azara seems to continue with tears threatening to spill at all she's had to endure. Pet blinks at the child with the indifference of a wild wolf.

The child is cut off at the sound of Luffy's abrupt rising. His strawhat shadows his eyes, but a vein throbs in his neck. Pet watches his expression in slight curiosity before he grits, "Pet..."

Azara gulps air before Nami leads the child to the sidelines as a powerful aura seems to exude from the Pirate King. Law shakes his head before informing her, "We all know about-"

Luffy leaps over the table to connect his fist to the wolf's jaw, but a human hand stops it. Pet's burning red eyes surprise Luffy, she's never been so open in intimidating him with them before. Pet's features are wolfish still, and she growls, "What do you think you know Luffy? Law?" Her red eyes find Law's gray and he gulps instinctively.

"You were going to take Shanks' baby with you. How selfish could you be?" Luffy doesn't falter and the sudden creaking and clashing of two Conqueror's Haki users permeates the air, it gets hard to breathe with how much tension fills the room. Pet's cold laugh escapes her.

"Don't you dare point the finger at me for who's the most selfish here, boy." Pet quickly grasps Luffy's neck and slams him to the ground causing a massive tremor throughout the sub enough to make alarms blare. Luffy tries to get air as Pet seems to grip his throat harder and harder. His adrenaline pumps when his sensors go on red alert. As suddenly as her killing intent appeared, it disappears when she leaves him on the ground and stands. Pet watches him gasp for breath, "My moods are a little swingy right now. It'd be best if you left me alone." Pet turns away to hunt for food.

As her back is turned, one of Law's subordinates slams into the open doorway, seeing her awake and Luffy on the ground, he grasps the situation before receiving a nod from Law. They're okay.

Luffy sits up and buries his face in a hand. Law watches Pet go into the kitchen, probably to devour his food stores. He turns to Luffy in a disinterested kind of way, "She was sought after and tortured because they were looking for you." Luffy's hard eyes meet Law's, before he finds something interesting to stare at on the ground.

Zoro shakes his head while nudging his Captain, "Seems she's trying hard not to blame you for everything. Maybe you should cut her some slack in how she didn't want to live, even with the knowledge of Shanks' kid." Zoro can't blame her, his honor won't let him forget all the times she's helped them out when they came face to face with some foe beyond their previous levels. He understands that it's her life and she can make her own choices. If anyone can think through a problem, Pet can; if she can't, then she must've really hit rock bottom. Zoro doesn't think she should be attacked, she should be embraced and comforted, but only Shanks was capable of bringing out her soft side.

There's no one around to interpret her, but herself. She's not angry with Luffy, she's angry with herself. She's angry with the situation. If someone challenges her, then she's going to respond accordingly. If Luffy's mad at her, then she's mad at him too.

Law stands and heads into the kitchen after Pet. The door shuts behind him and he's sharing the room with the wolf, again. He sighs and leans his hip against a counter, she's ripping into boxes and chomping on the food in them. "The baby must be hungry after all this time."

Pet snorts while she works her jaws, she turns to him to acknowledge she heard it before diving for another mouthful. "Pet-san..." He frowns as she continues with what she's doing, straightening into his authoritative persona, "Pet-san, we need to talk about what happened."

The wolf raises its head while finishing chewing and faces him. She blinks so calmly at him, and he can see the strength pulsing under her pelt. He watches as she steps towards him tentatively, almost as if she's trying to not scare him away. Like he's some bunny rabbit she wants to befriend. Then, when her yellow eyes are looking down her muzzle into his gray, he sees something that shocks him in that it doesn't shock him. Lowering her head, her nose touches his hand and he watches before her voice resonates in his mind. "_I'm fine. There's nothing to talk about. Tetsuya and I just had a little chat while they had me, it seemed hopeless, but I'll fight one last time for you guys before I retire._"

Law mutters, "In your condition, you shouldn't be fighting at all." He almost can't believe how much resolve he saw in her. She can't be moving past the loss of Shanks and the threat to her child so quickly. He expected her to be on the fence about fighting, then again, she was asleep for weeks and apparently she was coherent for a time. He wonders how long she's been preparing to wake up.

A deep chuckle resounds from her throat, "_You're right, but the war goes on and it's not like Tetsuya will let me get away and go live a peaceful life with my baby. I have to resolve things with him before I can go anyways._"

Law shakes his head, "How far along are you?"

"_Five months._"

Law frowns, "Is the baby alright?" He's thinking of the weeks Pet had to endure in her imprisonment and the fights even before she was imprisoned.

Pet withdraws and returns to her eating, not answering him exactly, but indirectly. Law nods, her hormones are still strong and she's definitely eating more than she generally does.

Law retreats from the kitchen and finds Luffy sitting in deep thought, as Doflamingo leans his cheek against his hand, smiling. Doffy watches Law enter and sit at their table. "Did you talk to her?"

Law's lip curls in disgust at having to speak with the man, a natural response now. "Yes, she said she's fine, she just needs to eat and think about how to deal with Tetsuya. Apparently she gleaned some information on him when she was with the Marines and it doesn't sit well with her."

Doffy grins deviously, "Ah, Pet-chan, that woman. If I could've made her a family member, she would've taken care of all my problems."

Luffy growls, "At her own expense. She's having Shanks' baby and she's already thinking about endangering her life and his own."

Law informs Luffy with an indifferent roll of the eyes, "Her first thought was to nourish it by going to get food. You impeded her and she dispatched you as a threat to her child. Does that not count for anything?"

Luffy's creases deepen, something has been bugging him and he really just wants to hash it out with Pet, yet, he's suddenly realizing his loss of respect for her. Over the years, the novelty of her wore off. She's not indestructible, she's not godly or even saintly. She's just someone who's trying to make the most of her life and fights for the one's she loves, just like him. He wouldn't make her mistakes though. He wouldn't abandon his friends and family to escape into the pleasantness of death. He'd never extinguish a life that hasn't even had the chance to light the dark. She was going to go with the knowledge that she was carrying a person with so much potential, the son or daughter of the great Demon Wolf and Red-Hair. Luffy shakes in excitement at the thought, but she quivered. He can't respect someone who would care so little for their child, they would take them with into the abyss. Luffy would never get the chance to meet them. It's all so selfish, it's disgusting.

He remembers the story she told him about her life. She finally came clean, but didn't answer all of Sabo's questions. Luffy merely lounged in a corner with his hat covering his eyes as she evaded and eluded to events in her life and past. He knows that she grew up hated and detested, without love from anyone. That she had a village and that they all despised her and made her an outcast, but despite it all, she fought for them, for their protection by becoming a Marine and a good one. He never really understood why she had to fight in the first place, just that her people were descendants of criminals. No big deal, but he never understood the extent of her family history. Now, he finds out she can turn into a dragon.

There are so many unanswered questions, and Luffy's patience is wearing thin. He doesn't have the luxury to be uninformed anymore, he needs to know what's going on with his people, especially if it will somehow mark their future.

* * *

Pet's features displayed no emotion as she calmly rubbed the back of the small girl who was crying into her shoulder. She had finished satiating her hunger and went to check on her little niece and nephew. Pet graciously allowed the child to cry over her lost loved ones and the destruction of everything she held dear. After a while, the sobs quieted and Pet rocked the girl as if she were still a babe. She understood the pain, she just didn't have the time to feel it anymore.

Doffy walks into the open room, his head hunkered down as he's too tall for the entryways. His hands are in his pink colored pants. Pet continues staring at the wall upon his arrival. She doesn't acknowledge when he takes a seat on the bed beside her, the temporary room that Azara has been staying in. Doffy leans on his knees without facing Pet, she whispers, "I'm surprised you stuck around."

His smile never falters, "I've been waiting for this war a long time." Pet smirks slightly at his words, he's not bringing up the fact that he feels indebted to her.

She shrugs, "As have I."

Doffy shakes his head, "Strawhat seems troubled by your desires as of late. The boy doesn't understand your reasoning and you're not doing anything to ease his mind. Seems you're making it worse." Doffy smirks at the thought, she's playing the sadist.

Pet blinks, "He's not a boy anymore, he's a man. He's the Pirate King in fact. I may be his older sister, but I can't lead him by the hand, not with this. If he can't keep up then I'll leave him to find his own way."

"Nobody seems to know the name Uchiha, except maybe that former strongest swordsman. I never did have the privilege of meeting your family."

"You just sent cronies after them."

Doffy chuckles, "And you killed them."

"My family is all dead now." Doffy turns to her and she continues, "Except for these two."

He returns to staring at the wall, "What's your connection with Tetsuya?"

Pet frowns, "He and I have a friend in common."

Doffy nods, "Of the intelligent sort?"

She nods dismally, "It'll make things complicated, but not too much more complicated."

Doffy's smile widens slightly, "Don't go looking for death again."

Pet gives an affirmative nod, "Aye sir. I wasn't planning on it."

He gets up and looks down at the raven hair in her arms, he gives the child a soft brush before walking away. When he's gone, Pet allows a wide smile, _he always had a soft spot for children._

* * *

Luffy leans against the wall across from Law's desk in his room. Law sits at it with his hands clasped in front of him, he's brooding. Both men look to the door when there's a knock and without waiting for a reply, it swings open. Doflamingo walks in, still hunched, he straightens to his full height in the room, still towering over Luffy and Law, if Law were to stand. Law drawls, "What do you want?"

"I'm leaving. Take the sub up, I'll be going to join my executives on my ship."

Luffy steps forward, "Weren't you going to stay because of Pet's recovery?"

Doflamingo's smile widens, "She's awake and recovered. Time to get back to work, Pirate King."

Luffy frowns, "What do you mean, she's been asleep and the baby-"

Law shakes his head, "The baby has four more months to develop, it can wait."

Luffy grits, "Pregnant women don't belong in war."

Doflamingo chuckles, "She's not just some pregnant woman, she's the only one who can put down Tetsuya."

The veins in Luffy's face strain, "She has Shanks' baby. I say she won't endanger it, she can wait until it's born."

Law interjects, "Strawhat-ya, this is war. Have you forgotten what that means?" Law pauses as Luffy's smoldering gaze bores into him, it doesn't intimidate the fellow supernova in the slightest, Law reasons, "We'll have lost everything by then. You said you would help your brother and asked us to join you. We all knew eventually Pet would have to end Tetsuya, she's fought him before when she was pregnant and the baby is still growing. She can handle it."

Luffy shakes in rage, until Pet walks in holding her baby nephew in her arms. She ignores him and looks past Doflamingo to Law, "We're going to have to make a stop to get some softer food for this guy. He's really malnourished, I think it's from the Marines not caring for them. He shouldn't be so small either."

Law nods, "Yes, Doflamingo wants to be let off as well. We're making a stop at the next island shortly, to restock."

Pet smiles and turns away. Luffy calls out, "Pet..." She stops and looks to him. "Did you hear?"

Pet blinks at him and smiles gently, "Luffy-kun, I don't know when you lost faith in my abilities, but pregnant or not, I can kick your ass and then go and kick Tetsuya's ass." She winks at him and leaves.

Once Luffy gets over the shock he laughs, "Shishishi..." It's nervous because she's right. He exhales deeply, ever since Shanks died he can't quite trust Pet to stick around. And once she's gone, what will he have left of his sister and his idol? Hopefully their offspring.

* * *

Azara smiles widely when she wakes up to Pet sleeping with her little brother in her arms. Azara shifts slightly to get off the bed, only to meet Pet's yellow eyes after. The way they pierce her soul, it scares her. Suddenly, her eyes give off a calmer light, and Azara can breathe again.

"Auntie, what's wrong?"

Pet smiles lightly, "What do you mean?"

Just as Azara was about to give her feeling that Pet is worried over something, there's a knock on the door. Pet commands, "Enter."

The door opens and Doflamingo walks inside, looming in the doorway. He takes a seat next to Azara and tells Pet, "We're docking right now. I'm leaving."

Pet sighs and sits up with the baby on her chest, "Have fun killing Marines."

Doffy laughs, "Of course. I get to claim a few islands from them."

Pet nods, a shadow passes over her features. Azara watches the adults and pays attention, nothing eludes the bright child. Pet smiles after, "I'll join you at a later date. Once I get these guys settled at the base."

Doffy stands, chuckling darkly, "I look forward to it, Empress."

Pet's fangs seem to grow larger as she flashes them at him, "You set us up for failure if you call me by that name." Azara winces at the veins enlarging on Pet's face, she notes the anger, but why does it seem misplaced? The girl has always been taught that it was a great honor, and Pet always bore it with dignity. Why is Pet responding like this? Shouldn't she strive to be like the White Dragon Empress? Not just to be her, but to surpass her, to share the power of the Uchiha. Isn't that her purpose? Azara remembers her father boasting of his sister to the clan mates, he always said she would bring the Uchiha back. Isn't she proud to have such an awesome legacy?

Doffy flashes his own teeth in a wide smile, "You're not the same, Pet-chan. I'm sure you won't follow in your ancestor's footsteps. This war will be different."

Pet's anger simmers, "Hold your breath until I defeat Tetsuya. We can't be sure of anything while he's still a threat."

Doflamingo frowns at the name, "He won't be an easy win, but for you, you'll beat him. You have much more to lose." He walks out, and from the shadows of the sub's hallways, "Bye, Azara-chan."

Azara runs out and Pet smiles as she hears her grab onto Doffy's leg and murmur, "Bye, Flamingo-san." Pet can almost feel the blush forming on his cheeks.

When Azara comes back after Doffy patted her head and walked away, Pet asks, "Are you hungry?"

Azara shrugs and sits on the bed again. "Why did you get all mad when Flamingo-san called you Empress? We always referred to you like that in the village."

Pet blinks at her, she's not at all surprised at the perceptiveness. "You don't know the full story, Azara-chan, what happened with the White Dragon Empress. She lead the Uchiha and many others into a great war, and she left them. She was going to die, but ended up saving as many as she could and tried to put the world back together as much as she could. She hesitated and it costed her everything. She was a loser. So yes, to the ignorant, the name is resounding, but the people who know the story know that the name is only famous because her failure was so great. It is an insult to be associated with her."

Azara takes a moment to process the information. She remembers the way the Uchiha people lit up when Pet spoke with them, was it not because of her lineage? Her attention is drawn back when Pet continues, "The Uchiha will never come back, I knew it before they were all murdered. It was only a matter of time."

Azara can't help the anger building inside her, "You did nothing? You knew we would be targeted and you did nothing?"

Pet chuckles, "Devote myself to people who don't care for me? No, I didn't just do nothing, I made a decision. I looked the other way. Didn't stick around for too long." True enough, but Azara doesn't know about Pet being thrown out and spited for many years.

Azara can't take this honesty. Her lip quivers, "Daddy left you a message."

Pet's eyes widen, "What?"

Azara feels tears slipping down her cheeks, "H-he said you c-could share my memories and that y-you could hear it as m-me..."

Pet stands suddenly and the baby murmurs in his sleep. She moves to the bed and lays him down, her eyes shift blue as she puts a hand on Azara's temple.

* * *

_Death and destruction flare outside, chaos ensues. It was the dead of night when the soldiers came, the dark and cold steel of their rifles glinting in the moonlight. They were stationed strategically throughout the town before all breaking into homes and beginning their assault on the Uchiha. Azara is roused from her sleep by being picked up and carried into her parent's room. Her sleepy eyes gather the dark form of her father, the chief. Hitoshi places Azara on the bed and picks up her baby brother. He whispers, "The Marines are here, baby girl. I don't think Pet can help us with this one if they've already taken out the Revolutionaries guarding the town. We're going to have to fight them ourselves. Get ready, baby. Wake up. I need you to look after your brother. Here. Don't let him go, wait here." _

_Azara's senses sharpen, "Yes sir." She receives the baby. _

_Hitoshi smiles and pats her head, he walks away and she watches his receding form. _

_It's not long before the sounds of battle reach her ears. She shivers in anticipation, something in her blood riles at the sound of war. She hops off the bed and goes downstairs to a window and sees the horror of what's going on outside. She watches the many buildings burning and the bodies of Marines and Uchiha alike. She can't recognize her people in the darkness and it frightens her. Who's dead? Who will she not see in the morning? The reality that people are dying blow her innocent mind, such violence doesn't actually exist, right? People don't die so gruesomely, not like this? She jolts when the front door slams open and the grunting of men follow. She peers over and screams when she sees her father's bloody body gripping a Marine's wrist, effectively halting his downward swing with the sword. The Uchiha man exploits the momentary loss of attention at his daughter's scream, a quick jab to the neck and another one bites the dust. _

_Azara cries, "Daddy!"_

_Hitoshi turns to her, he approaches her as she sobs, gripping her shoulders, "Baby, I'm sorry. There's too many. The main act isn't even here yet. They won't kill you, need to make an example of us, I heard them shouting for my kids. I need Pet to know something before we die. " He frowns slightly when Azara's sobs grow more fierce, "it's okay, she'll hear all of it as long as you have your hearing. Pet, we never cared for your title. We never wanted to keep you, we knew you needed your space from us. You didn't choose your place, and we understand that. No one blames you for what's happened, for our place in the world. It simply made us happy to see you trying to be there for us, even though you wanted nothing more to do with us. It's okay, it's not your fault. Something took place too long ago for anyone to have knowledge about it, it wasn't the Empress' fault either. Please, don't blame yourself. Save my kids, take care of them for your big brother, whatever that means to you. And know, that despite what's about to happen, your people love you and we want the best for you. You never had to come back and save us all the times you did, behind our backs I'm sure-"_

_A deep and resonating voice sounds from outside, "These pitiful people are the great Uchiha! How shameful! None of you can beat me, none of you!?"_

_Hitoshi could've went on, trying to get his point across, Azara quiets when she notices how pale her father has gone. He gulps and straightens slightly, he plants a kiss on Azara's forehead and turns to walk back out into the yard. Azara follows him, trying to contain her tears and she sniffles. The baby begins crying loudly, drawing attention._

_The embers and smoke blur the image of the figure speaking, Hitoshi draws a sword from a nearby corpse. _

_The figure offers a light tone, giving the impression he's smiling, "Uchiha D. Hitoshi. I assume those are your kids back there. We'll take them both, after I kill you."_

_Hitoshi is able to make out the defining feature of his enemy, he sees the various red tips bursting from the black locks atop his head. His lip curls in disgust, "Tetsuya."_

* * *

Pet retracts her hands as if she had been burned. Her eyes shimmer yellow and Azara watches her, it was barely thirty seconds that passed as Pet grasped her memory. Azara watches Pet pinch the bridge of her nose, what did she see? The child blocked out most of what happened that night, she doesn't remember what was revealed about the way the Uchiha truly regarded Pet.

Azara asks, "What is it? What did you see? What did he say?"

Pet shakes her head and stands, she seems speechless, "Look after your brother, I'm going to get his food and groceries."

Before Azara can make any sound of indignation, Pet has already left the room. Her chest is contracting, it's suffocating her. These walls of the damn sub aren't helping her feeling either.

She gets into the fresh air and hops off, ignoring the crew mates calling after her, Law raises a brow at her expression and her speedy escape. Luffy walks out after her and sees her running into town. He frowns, asking no one in particular, "What happened to her?"

Law shrugs, giving off the impression he doesn't care, "Don't know."

Pet, meanwhile, jumps from the various rooftops, taking a whiff of the island, she exhales calmly. Finding a place she can hideaway, she sits and dangles her legs over the limb of the tree she found, it has a nice canopy to cover her.

_Were you really surprised that your family didn't even think of using you? I could've told you that._

_It makes it so much worse, what I did..._

_You didn't do anything?_

_Exactly..._

_Have you lost your mind in your old age!?_

_I'm barely thirty-two._

_Pet, you didn't do anything wrong, you can't be perfect all the time. They didn't expect it of you, I don't expect it of you. Just be you, and be happy._

_Daray... I've fucked up so many times..._

Pet sighs, _And I'm worried about Tetsuya. I don't want to fight him._

_You can turn into a dragon, can he? You'll beat him._

_It's not about beating him. I know I can, it's about o-_

"Pet, what are you doing?"

She looks at the ground and sees Luffy. He wears the confused expression she's seen it so many times. "Just thinking. I needed some time."

Luffy hops up and sits next to her. "Can we talk?"

"Depends on the subject."

He smiles, "I won't hold a grudge if you go for Tetsuya. I will if you die."

Pet nods with the corners of her mouth tugging slightly before a calm sets over, "I'm not planning on dying. I've fought many people in my lifetime, killed as much. The art of war is part of my legacy. My child won't see that side of me, it won't be their history. I swear it."

Luffy grins, "I guess if you're making plans for the future that's good. We'll be seeing Sabo soon, he's waiting for us at the base. He'll tell you where you can find Tetsuya."

Pet shakes her head, "I'm going to finish something else before I search for him."

Luffy swallows in surprise, "What do you mean?"

Pet slides off the branch and onto the ground, she walks away, "Don't worry about it Luffy."

* * *

A few days later, they dock at the Allies' base. Once the sub is settled, one excited brother hops onto the deck and rushes inside. He brushes past and uses his Observation Haki to find his sister. He stops at her open door and sees her cooing, "Come here baby. Come here, you can do it."

His breath catches as he watches her grin at the little boy slowly standing up and staggering step by grueling step. Pet's smile is so genuine and the baby laughs and tries to run to her, he trips but Pet is there to lift him up, "Good job! We need to get you back to full, little one."

Her attention is drawn to the door when she feels her brother grin. She smiles lightly at him, a slight blush tinging her cheeks, he comes forth, "You're going to make a great mom."

Pet shrugs and the baby giggles. "Anyways, he's doing much better since I started specially making his formula. I'll make an Uchiha of him yet."

Sabo nods and brushes the babe's cheek, smiling. "So that's the clan's name right?"

Pet nods, "Yes, that's my first name."

Sabo looks at her, "Your name's not Pet?"

Suddenly, Law stalks inside, "If I remember correctly, your full name is Uchiha D. Serina."

Pet smirks, "Yep, my family was a big deal in the olden days, my ancestors were the early enemies of the World Government."

Sabo raises a brow, "More forthcoming with information then?"

Pet shrugs, "It doesn't matter anymore."

Law shakes his head, "Is there something specific you're getting at?"

Pet matches his gaze calmly, "History may repeat, but something didn't happen to my ancestor that's happening to me now. This is all new territory."

Sabo and Law glance at each other then back to her, Sabo questions, "What do you mean?"

Pet sighs about to spill the truth until her niece runs into the room laughing in honest mirth. "Auntie, the island is beautiful! Can we take Roan on the beach and explore the forests! Daddy said he was going to teach me about herbs before!"

Law seems to regard the girl, showing minimal interest, "Why do you want to know about herbs?"

Pet interjects and the girl puffs out her chest with her fists on her hips, "Azara wants to be a healer." She answers the girl, "Later today, I'll assess you and we'll learn some things about healing plants and properties, but Law has more medical books he might let you study if you ask nicely."

Azara turns to the supernova and runs up to him, holding his tattooed hand, jumping up and down in excitement, "Oh, please, Torao-san, can I look through your books. I'll be really careful."

Law frowns and is about to decline when there's a slight rumbling in the room. He nods, muttering, "Sure, why not."

Azara squeals in excitement and dashes and grabs Pet's hand, only to drag her to the outside world.

* * *

Pet agreed to meet with Dragon and the other leaders at sunset, before the meeting she went with Azara into the surrounding luscious trees. Pet would hop from tree to tree, and stalk Azara. She was teaching Azara battle strategies and how to be the hunter even when being hunted.

Azara kept up pretty well with her aunt and eventually, she started to get the hang of anticipating where Pet would pop up. After Pet finished devoting some time to the child's self defense, Pet stopped trekking deeper into the forest and sat on a trunk of tree.

She smiled at the mass amounts of greens and colors. This island is more tropical than woods. Azara promptly sat next to her on the trunk. Pet took a deep breath before beginning her lecture on what to expect on different islands or different zones. The child hummed to the information before Pet beckoned, standing, "There's always something you can use in an emergency, and if there isn't, then it's your responsibility to make sure you have something..." She continues and walks around pointing out the different uses for the different nearby plants or rocks. She briefly discusses the other uses in other zones before showing Azara the plants she could use in various situations.

Pet really just wants the child to be prepared in an emergency before she instructs her on more general subjects.

After a while, Pet decides, "That's enough for today. If you want more on medical utensils and chemicals then you should go bug Law-kun for his books."

Azara smiles and grabs Pet's hand to pull her back to civilization. She holds her hand as the two make their way, "Auntie, should I carry a bag around like Chopper-san? Do you think he'll teach me too?"

Pet lightly smirks, "Maybe, only one way to find out. If you want to carry a bag then you can, but you should learn a few more things before considering yourself qualified."

Azara giggles, "You don't carry anything around, are you not qualified?"

Pet shakes her head, recounting her devil fruit power to heal others.

"If you ask me, she's a little overqualified..." Pet's eyes widen, acting solely on instinct, she grabs Azara and covers her as a sword slices across her own back. The wound spills mass amounts of blood and Pet turns quickly, Azara held like a football in one arm as Pet grabs the sword in one hand, blocking it. Her eyes blaze red but light blue dots sprinkle the fire. Her hand is coated in scales, sparks fly off her palm.

"Oh? You learned a new trick. I heard, sorry I couldn't be there to kill you myself. That's okay, you won't get away again, not when I'm back in business." He laughs coldly and goosebumps collect on Pet's skin.

Azara has paled at the sight of him, the one who murdered her father and many of her people.

Pet growls, "Couldn't you wait?"

His red tips seem to catch the light and his own red eyes don't falter as he regards her simply. She hates that she can't get underneath his skin, he's not human. He grins, "No way, I'm going to burn this island to the ground. It's your base right? Ha ha, I'm going to kill everyone!"

Pet snarls, "As if I'd let you."

He cocks his head slightly, unafraid of challenging her, "Tck tck, Pet, you've never won before, what makes you think this will be any different?"

Pet grins and the two break away from each other. Pet sets Azara down, one look and a shift to blue eyes and the child sprints toward the base. "One thing: don't hit my stomach."

He blinks at her, shrugs while sheathing his sword, "Wouldn't want to hurt the baby."

She shifts into her wolf form, he smirks as a ring of fire materializes around him. A flick of his wrist and Pet has jumped from where the fireball was about to eradicate her. She roars, her fur hardens as she coats herself in armament haki. She grazes him and he jumps to the side, blood spewing, his face surprised. She's lashing out more readily than she used to. "Did you finally make a decision Pet?"

She lands and swings around to face him in her human form, "Yes. You are a bad dog, and bad dogs need to be put down."

He chuckles, "You won't get so lucky next time, wolfie." She yelps when more fire springs up around her, singing her arms. She materializes behind him about to chop his neck with her hand, but crouches to duck when he swings his elbow behind him. Growling, she elbows him to the side, he positions to stand on a trunk she meant to topple him into. His force makes it uproot so he then stands on it horizontal, instead of vertical before the uprooting; she follows and they trade blows while balancing on the creaking wood. His fire from before has spread, they're silhouettes with fire around them.

He moves to land a punch directly into her gut, like last time, but once again she grabs his fist. Their red eyes meet, two great fires clashing, creating an even bigger fire. "Right, I forgot, don't hit your stomach, wouldn't want to damage the little criminal."

She cocks her head, "You think you can talk about criminals?"

Anger fills the creases in his face, "I shouldn't have told you about that."

Without even blinking, she twirls her leg and swipes him away, a moment of weakness on his part. He wipes the blood from his chin as he leans on one elbow laying on the moist earth; they have a clearing with fire around them. "You really shouldn't have. At first, I was hesitant, my suspicions confirmed, now, I'm resigned to my fate. It's my duty to kill you."

He stands, dusting off his Admiral coat, "I think it's the other way around actually." Pet walks toward him, before she stops.

"You've been told lies since childhood, taken from your home. You don't know anything. I don't want to kill you, but I will, no hesitation." _... None at all._

His face is strained, "I'm not listening."

She blinks at him, "Of course you won't, it's not how he programmed you. I was hoping to take him down before looking for you, but I guess he'll have to wait."

Tetsuya's red eyes glint, "You won't touch him." Something seems to click within him and he's punched Pet so she flies through the forest, collecting trees as she goes before she slides off the last. She grunts and lands a speedy uppercut to Tetsuya's chin, just as he was about to slam her down. She slashes across his chest with her claws, but he retaliates by punching her shoulder. He infused it with his fire, however, so fire seems to explode from the wound. He gets blown back slightly from his own punch, while she grips the wound dripping blood.

Pet's anger builds, she raises her good arm and slams it into the ground, sending a shock wave of power across the island. Birds burst from the trees, cracks split from her fist. She looks up, Tetsuya curls a lip, "What did you do?"

She straightens, "Just sent a little signal. I can fight you seriously now."

Tetsuya marches toward her, "No matter, once I finish you, the others are toast."

She shakes her head as she gathers her power about her. He does the same. Lightning crackles around them, the air becomes charged with their power. The battle has moved onto a whole other level now.

One quick jab that doesn't even connect, shakes the ground beneath. This is true power. There are three stages to Pet's and Tetsuya's battles, Luffy can only keep up to the second stage and match that stage to its highest peak, but he can't even compare to the third stage. Pet's hoping to avoid that one.

Tetsuya starts throwing fire, each one is a pillar rising to the heavens and Pet runs serpentine down a slope, pillar after pillar rising from her previous places. Tetsuya appears in front of her and she rolls to avoid another explosive punch. The fire from his punch burns across the tree line, and she quickly takes his legs out from under him. She's about to slam her heel into his stomach when he rolls out as well. The blow creates another split as Pet seems to have given the island a gash, but no blood seeps from this wound. She uses geppou to avoid falling into the chasm.

Tetsuya grabs her by the collar and she twists around and grabs his arm, forces him to let go just as he's about to set her aflame. "You really need to stop that. It's getting to be a problem."

He takes her close proximity to punch her and lift her to try to bury her head into the earth, one hand out she stops her downward momentum, from her fingers more cracks carry out. The power he put into slamming her also blows some of the trees away, so the cloudy sky above them shows the lightning dancing around their battleground.

Pet's muscles bulge in her arm as she holds her position, until Tetsuya also manages to swipe her arm with his own leg. She starts to fall on her front, but they both seem to disappear and slide across from each other, panting.

Smoke billows across the forest and embers light around them. Pet mutters, "Ready to give up?"

Tetsuya chuckles, "Are you?"

Pet shrugs, "I'm feeling a little hot, I could go for some ice cream."

"It'll be much hotter where I'm going to send you."

Pet smirks, "I meant it when I said I didn't want to kill you. Just let me deal with that brainiac, you'll feel much better after."

Tetsuya chides, "You're not going to touch Vegapunk, he's been my only friend all these years. He's all I know."

Pet grits, "I used to regard him in the same way, the lying devil. He stabbed me in the back with this. He'll know my wrath, don't worry, I'll avenge you too."

In her momentary lapse, Tetsuya connects his explosive fist to her face and she takes flight coughing up blood. The fire catches as she goes, and more trees flare up. She drags herself up with blood running down her face, "That kid's done it this time." She waits as she hears the waves lapping not too far from her, she must be near the shore. She lopes down and bursts onto the beach, ducking so Tetsuya readjusts to slide onto the sand and turn to face her once more.

"Enough talk, you're going down."

Pet shakes her head, she whistles piercingly and Revolutionary snipers fire from the ships surrounding the island. Tetsuya takes a step forward as multiple darts litter his back. Everlasting fire builds on his hands, he's about to blast them all away. Pet exhales on her fist before drawing it back, shines it on her shirt, she mutters, "Just take a nice little nap." She punches him straight into his cheek. Sand and the water are blown away by the wind generated from it. The clouds also have parted in the heavens from her punch. She grabs his shirt collar so he doesn't fly away, and once it's finished, she lets him drop onto the sand at her feet.

Looking around, she crouches beside him, "Vegapunk and the Marines are playing you. I'll finish them for you, maybe remove the blindfold they put on you. I see him clearly now; Vegapunk is a menace." She stands as a little dinghy comes upon the shore. She steps over Tetsuya, and Luffy and Sabo run up. Sabo grins, "We got him, let's take him into custody."

Pet places her arms around both of them and starts walking them back to the dinghy, "We're leaving him."

They both shout, "What!?"

Luffy shakes his head, "No way, he's a bad guy-"

"No he's not, just misguided. Let's go, I was going to fill you guys in at the meeting on my information I gleaned while with the Marines."

They try to protest, but Pet drags them away. "Leave him, he's my responsibility. I won't kick him while he's down."

Sabo shrugs, "As long as you have a good explanation."

Pet narrows her eyes. Luffy inquires, "How's the baby?"

"Before we meet, I will want to see Law. It's fine, just kind of hard to see with all this blood getting in my eyes." The brothers chuckle and they head back to the ship. The Revolutionaries will be setting up base elsewhere since Tetsuya found them. He did bring some Marine ships with him, they were quickly dispatched by Luffy once Azara ran to alert them of the threat. They set sail once Pet gave the signal for them to get off the island and positioned themselves around the island to wait for Pet to draw him into their line of sight, a precaution they went through before Pet ventured into the forest. As the fight dragged on, many stood in rapt attention as the island shook and pillars of fire blasted straight into heaven, divine lightning streaked across the sky of the godly battle. Even the waves surrounding were treacherous. Some prayed for Pet's victory, others saluted her, trying to show their support even though Pet was fighting for her own reasons, not for anyone, except maybe Tetsuya himself.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Thanks for reading. I'm going to have to enlarge the waiting periods because of my busyness with school. So, the chapter will not be updated weekly, I'll try a week and a half, but again it might be extended. I still have a long way to go, I'm starting to think possibly ten more chapters. Review Follow and Favorite, please, thank you all who have. You keep me going even when this story was supposed to be finished haha. Hey, I might do a filler type chapter at some point to go over Tetsuya's background, so let me know if you guys would want that, otherwise I might just try to cover it really quickly or allude to it, but not go into major detail. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	27. Work, Work, Work

_Enjoy._

* * *

_I'm tired of fighting and now I have to deal with this shit? I take another deep breath and eye the men surrounding me, fools. They're challenging me by themselves, apparently they're tired of no one being able to nail me. Now, they got Bonney to fix them up, make them young again, back in their prime. Whoop dee doo, I'm going to have a talk with that child. Oh children! They're all children!_

_I slam my fist on the ground with a quaking growl at them. "Why can't you people leave me alone, I haven't torn your establishments down, but I will if you don't get off my back."_

_The five bastards stand in varying stances surrounding me, looking somewhat smug and pompous. I desperately want to rip their throats out, but I hold myself back. My lip twitches, threatening to spread into a snarl, I exhale, "Where is Bonney?"_

_The one I call Dreads gives me a chuckle, bastard, before he grins through his newly colored beard. He reversed enough so he doesn't have to walk with a cane, "The pink bitch won't be around to save your arse from us Pet."_

_The one I nicknamed Smalls, he's the crueler of the bunch and the tallest, so I tended to push his buttons more. Smalls merely grimaces, "Enough talk," he pulls up the sleeves of his suit._

_Spot, the one with birthmarks, murmurs in agreement. Ji, the oldest with the most wrinkles and bald, draws his katana, it glints in the half light, "Just remember that if you don't surrender yourself, Bonney and those other Supernova children you're so fond of will pay the price." _

_Blondie, with more luscious and shimmering hair than in his older age, smirks as he too pulls up his sleeves._

_They're fucking underestimating me, or they're overestimating themselves. I hate them, I hate them so much. Instead of grimacing or growling in my growing rage, I rise with a laugh, "Those children are much more powerful than you think. I'm going to fight you all, whip you real good, even though I'm against beating the elderly. At least, it'll be my payback for all those years I lost, all those years you had me running your errands and covering up your messes, where the corruption threatened to spill into the public eye. For trying to control me, turn me into your weapon." I shake my head as they all take stance, who are they kidding? They're not team players. _

_Rolling my shoulders and cracking my neck, I snarl, "Unforgivable!" With that, raw power seems to fill the air, shifting and charging it immediately. I disappear, we all do. Running across the barren land, I pass glances behind me as Smalls and Blondie keep to either side. I phase out of sight with the coming slash of Ji. Drawing my katana as well, I move for an upward slice on Blondie, however, my blades slide against the Armament haki coating his forearm. I grit as I move to kick him away just as another slash is sent and Smalls moves to punch me down from behind me; somehow above me Spot is going to make a pancake of me in the ground. _

_I huff in annoyance, holding off Blondie with Yin, moving Yang to defend elsewhere. I take Yang in my mouth as I catch the flying slash against my white blade, grip Smalls fist, and withstand against the pressure of Spot as the oppressive force he exerted makes the ground around me crack and compress. I take all their force at once and the second they finish their attacks to no avail, I jump up while still holding the fist of Smalls and deflecting Blondie, I kicks Smalls in his bearded face, pushing off to punch Blondie in his. As I twist over him, Spot lands a punch to my side after he landed and jumped to me just as I finished decking Blondie. I fly across the rocky terrain from Spot's fist, but catch myself with roar, taking Yang back in my hand, I run to stab Spot only to have Ji deflect my glittering katana._

_My red eyes reflect back to me within his own, he's scowling at me, I've never seen him without a scowl. I can still tell he's enjoying this whole revisiting his youth. I push him away with a burst of energy and twirl for another swipe, only to have my ankle grabbed. I slam into the ground with a grunt before rolling out of the way as Smalls tries to land a punch. I phase out of sight, jumping and sliding back to distance myself. _

_I sheathe my katana and extend my claws, needing a new approach. I blink at them, before running towards them, I can't face any one on one for too long. The others won't allow me any time to get the upper hand, I need to focus on my speed and distributing my strength so I can take them all down. I just need one good hit to slow them down. So far, they've got nothing on me. _

_I jerk to the side as Ji sends more long range, while Blondie appears to welcome me with a punch to my cheek, smirking, I let my animal instinct take control. I bend my knees to crouch, avoiding his fist and stepping toward him as my clawed hand moves to pierce his abdomen, sensing his haki hardening his abs, I switch to a fist, fearing broken nails. My fist connects straight to his haki covered stomach, but the blow is explosive. Lightning flickers above us, and I clench my teeth, fusing my punch with as much power as I can. I will hurt him! _

_With this assertion, his haki breaks and he feels my wrath. I send him across the island, taking a some varying mountains with him in his flight while the sky itself seems to split in a line for miles. I straighten and face the four remaining; that punch won't finish Blondie, but it'll take him some time to stop flying. Ji has a dangerous glint in his eyes, Smalls frowns beneath his beard, while Spot seems pleased at this development. I demand, "Where is Bonney!?"_

_They had me traverse into the heart of this island in the New World to find out about some threat and then they surprise me with their youth and their vow to serve me justice. They spoke of hunting the Supernova and then taking on the Yonko, being rid of pirates for all of time, as if it were possible. They coerced Bonney after her new capture and now they're hiding her? I'm so angry. Besides me, they've been after her power for a while, but she always seems to elude capture in the nick of time, before she could meet them. Guess they were ready for her this time._

_Shaking off my anxiety, I walk towards them, daring them to challenge me some more. Of course they do, and I have to pull some evasive maneuvers before, to my dismay, I get kicked straight in the face. Dirt builds around my heels as I slide, but I can't return the favor since I have to work on not getting cut by Ji. Rolling to the side, I burst at him, getting past his guard while he's still pulling back to release another attack. I slash him across his chest with my claws while he stabs my shoulder. Worth it. _

_Instinctively, I feint to the side to avoid yet another attack, while swiping the cheek of Spot with my elbow. Unfortunately, Smalls took an opportunity, and lands a punch straight to my chest. I cough blood while my arms fall to my side. Time seems to freeze over for a moment, as my rage seems to click to a new level. The world gets painted in red and the air is pulsing around us, but I'm not the only cause of this. We're all leveling the fight up as we go, surpassing each one. Eventually Blondie rejoins us, and deals a few good punches. I get knocked down only to have to recover time and time again, them? They're fucking cheaters._

_I have to keep fighting the other four or three while the two or one gets to rest and eat up. Our fight goes on for three fucking months, before something finally happens. The island is already completely changed into a barren land with gaping tears along its ground. A ship docks at the beach, a Navy ship. I maintain a battle stance when Ji mutters, "About time."_

_I glance at it as I notice Marines escorting a pink haired woman down the ramp. I don't recognize her at first, she's dirty and raggedy. Soon I realize this woman is Bonney. Feeling a new surge of energy, I'm just about to free her when Smalls gripes, "We need to be younger, we're still too old. Fix this problem."_

_I almost go weak at the knees, they think their age is the problem? That when she turns them younger, they'll be able to defeat me? Sure they'll have more energy but I've been running on low for weeks now, only the full moons have replenished me. I feel a new hatred pimple pop inside me. I shiver in malice, "Bonney, dear, why don't you turn these men back into geezers, the way they're supposed to be?"_

_Bonney shakes her head in tiredness, her defiance is withered away, but I can see she's not completely gone. "If they're threatening something of yours, I will protect you and anyone else from anything, you'll be free."_

_Bonney sends a heated glare my way, as if challenging my words, the merit of them. She answers with disdain, "They just have to push one button to give the signal to have my crew executed and they've already killed some of my men. I can't bet on you Pet-san."_

_I raise a brow, tapping my chest, before bowing my head, "Sweetheart, if they win, everyone else loses anyways. On my honor, I need your f- ... help. Don't reverse their age anymore, change them back so we can all go home. I'll protect your crew."_

_The kairoseki cuffs fall off Bonney as she moves to activate her devil fruit powers. I narrow my eyes, but just as Bonney's about to begin the process, a disembodied voice catches all our attention, "Pet-chan? Neh, can you hear me?"_

_I sigh in relief, I pull a small den den mushi with a scar of three slash marks across its eye out of my shirt, near my chest. I ask, "Did you get them?"_

_"Yes, our allies busted Bonney-chan's crew from the Marine building they were being held in. I'm on my way there right now to pick them up, but they're out of danger."_

_I nod, "Thanks for your help."_

_"See you, pumpkin dahaha!"_

_I smack my forehead and end the call with a clank. I smile at Bonney, "There you have it, your crew is safe, now if you don't mind." The light reenters Bonney as she grins widely, acting quickly, she changes them back. I'm already stepping forward, but Ji embeds his katana through Bonney's chest just as he ages. I appear over the two and kick Ji with my foot directly in line with his face. He flies away, and I land behind Bonney as she slumps into my grasp. I lay her down gently, whispering, "I'll deal with you in a moment."_

_Seizing the chance, I blast the powerful geezers into next week with either a punch or kick. I cut down, otherwise kill the Marines on the ship. I grab the medical supplies before returning to Bonney, all within ten seconds. Huffing and puffing from exhaustion, I extract the sword from her chest, determining there's no damage to her heart. I'm not in too good shape either, none of us fighters are. We all have bruising and cuts. _

_I press the wound, I don't have much energy to give. I close my eyes and open with luminous blue. Brushing Bonney's cheek, my lip quivers in pain as I transmit my healing strength to Bonney to stop her bleeding. Meanwhile, my cuts and bruises become more defined, blood begins to trickle from my wounds. _

_When I can't risk sharing any more, I brace on the ground with one hand, breathing heavily. I open my eyes slowly and sit back, "We can't stay here." I remain for a couple minutes before taking Bonney in my arms and heaving herself and myself up, I begin walking in the direction of my glider, heading to my haven, heading to Shanks.  
_

_Somehow I manage that, and stand in the middle of the deck with Bonney, sleeping in my arms. Her crew steps forward and takes her from her arms, I stand in my place, with my arms out, as if I'm still holding her. I think my body wonders if it's truly time to rest. Shanks steps forward with a worried expression, "Pet-chan?"_

_My face is set in deadpan, I don't have the energy to express relief or gratitude. As if sensing this, Shanks envelops me in his embrace, wrapping around my waist and picking me up. I bury my face into his neck groaning as all my limbs relax against him. My arms fall and my legs dangle, and he just holds me, grinning like a fool I can guess. He jostles me so I twitch, "You did good Pet-chan. You fought the Gorosei for three months straight and didn't lose, and you saved Bonney."_

_I wheeze, "Why'd I do something like that? Am I an idiot? Three months?"_

_Shanks laughs boisterously, "You did it because you care, and yes you're an idiot. And most definitely you fought them for three months, I counted every day I was away from my wife dahahaha!"_

_I smile into his warmth, "Can I sleep now?"_

_Shanks kisses my cheek, "Yes." He tucks me in later and I sleep for a day and a half before waking sore. Bonney's crew give me their thanks and Bonney weakly states their debt to me which I wave off. She's going to heal on her own ship and I tell her to be more careful next time she lets herself be caught. It hurt her pride, but she needs to learn. Shanks joined me on the rail long after they had faded from view. _

_I turn to him with a smile, catching his eye, "Thanks for being there with me on the island." I had his den den mushi with me the whole time, so he could give me updates on the search for Bonney's crew while I distracted the Gorosei. Every time I wanted to give in, he fed me words of encouragement and praise to keep me going. He'd talk of the reward after, that I'd be truly legendary. He told me to think of the sex once I returned._

_It was enough to get me through three months, he kept me alive and focused. He puts his good arm around me and kisses my temple, "No need to thank me, I'm just being a good husband."_

_I bite his earlobe, gently and seductively, "A good husband deserves a prize." _

_He flashes me a sly grin, looking at me through the corner of his eye. He accepts._

* * *

Pet smiles lightly as Law leans against the counter watching the small girl on her knees next to Pet, she's trying to be as light as possible in dabbing Pet's blood off her face. Pet recalls the care of her crew mates after a hard fought battle, especially of her love. While Law's extremely bored, why does he have to watch over the adolescent? Then he recollects Pet's instruction of him, and some of the books he learned from, that he received via the mail. Pet had access to some of the greatest minds in the Marines and she'd send him books to help him with his studies, broaden his mind. Mentoring Azara is the least he can do, he supposes.

Azara's face is scrunched as she focuses with all her might to complete the task in the proper way. Law sighs, "Worrying about causing her pain will not help her."

Azara glances at him and sits back on the bed. Pet looks at her, "I appreciate your care, but sometimes there's no need. Just get it done, don't worry about me." Azara takes a big breath, steeling herself, then she dabs Pet's open wounds with a little more force. They finish and Pet gets up, pulling on an over coat, sliding her arms through the sleeves. She walks out of the infirmary in the one giant ship in the middle of a fleet heading toward the rendezvous. Law flanks her. Pet is a sight to behold, her stomach obviously bigger than usual, yet she has bruises and cuts from her fight.

She rubs her hands, careful not to mess with the bandages on her knuckles. Daray paces in her inner mind, _You're not going to tell them right? It's none of their business. Your family and your problems; they have no right to those facts. It'll only raise more questions. You don't have time if you're going to go after Vegapunk. They won't be able to trust you to deal with him._

_I know._

Tetsuya was left on the island as Pet asked. She waited outside until the island disappeared from her view, then went in to get her wounds cleaned. Azara was ecstatic when Pet agreed to let the girl doctor her.

Back to the present, she leads the way through the hallways until they reach two grand oak doors. She halts a moment before pushing both doors open for an entrance. All eyes turn on her and Law levels with her as they both position themselves around the lengthy table. "Welcome Pet."

Pet turns to the man who addressed her, she smiles at the red tattoo, black eyes, raven hair. If she could ever trust anyone as such, this man could be her father. She gives a nod of respect, "Dragon-san." He and Sabo stand at the head of the table, while Pet opted to stand near the middle with Luffy at the other head. She places her knuckles on the table, she takes one shaky breath. "I've called you all here to give you some news you're not going to like."

Law asserts, "Besides the news, we need answers."

Sabo steps forward, his thighs brushing against the tabletop, "Why didn't you let us take Tetsuya in?"

Pet nods, "Tetsuya and I have a complicated relationship and that actually has to do with my news. There are some things that I have to settle before I can fight him at my fullest..."

Luffy crosses his arms, "What do you mean? Are you putting off the war?"

Pet smiles, a dangerous aura seems to exude, "You all joined the war and expect me to fall in line... as always? You want me to salute you, fall in, give my blood for some cause, like when I was a Marine?" She never had to explain herself to these people before, when she saved all their asses before. Well, the Revolutionaries have expected more from her, which is understandable, but both debts are equal on either side. She owes them nothing and they owe her nothing. She doesn't have to fight this war if she doesn't want to and they already are questioning her loyalty? Fuck that.

Sabo's brows knit, "What? N-no?" He's caught off guard, he didn't expect her sharp tongue. They let Tetsuya go because of her. She needs to deal with him, they could've ended him back on the island. Why did she let him walk?

Pet chuckles, "Sounds like it," her eyes meet with Dragon and she holds his gaze. "You thought by rallying to save me from the execution, you'd repay me. Consider it repaid, the slate is clean. I don't owe any of you anything, I have no reason to fight this war, but I will. There are some things that I have to take care of before I can fight Tetsuya, but it's all to eliminate him as a threat and I won't explain my hesitation as of yet."

Dragon wears a small smirk, "That's fine, Pet." He trusts her.

Luffy jolts forward, "What're you going to do?"

"I'm going to try to eliminate Tetsuya as a threat."

Luffy scowls at her redundancy, "You're going to beat his ass, right?"

Cracks split across the table from Pet's knuckles, "Maybe. It doesn't matter what I do as long as I take care of the problem."

Law presses, he can't take the lack of knowledge especially when it concerns Pet. He needs to be ready to defend her and he can't do that without all the facts, "Why aren't you giving a reason? What are you hiding?" She's going to create a lot of opposition if she doesn't explain herself, no one will understand her, therefore, she won't have help or allies in the coming days. She's isolating herself and he can't protect her by himself. She doesn't have Shanks to swoop in, she needs to be more careful.

Pet's eyes suddenly flare red, she growls, "Back off, all of you. It's my business and I'll take care of it."

Luffy snorts, "Have you always been so secretive?"

Pet retorts, "Yes, you were just too young and careless to notice. Suddenly you're some big man who has responsibilities and you think I'll jump just because you say so? You're still an ignorant little boy to me; you all are sightless babes fighting a war that was predetermined by my people, my presence in the world alone is enough to signify all this strife. And look who all need me to finish their war. The least you could've done was ask me politely, instead of pointing at some monster and ordering me like some trained mutt 'Take him down, little doggie.' Yet, I'm not some dog, and apparently, I'm important enough that the great Pirate King himself can't match up with Tetsuya. You need the help of a pregnant lady to finish your fight. With this in mind, if you're going to keep demanding things of me, then I say fuck all of you. I'll find a nice little spot in some faraway land where I can retire in peace, and you won't ever find me, but instead, once again I'm putting my life on the line, and it's not just mine. I'm putting my child's life on the line for this war, to end all wars."

Pet can barely control her anger as she growls deeply and runs her claws through the wood table, shaving it. She's so mad and frustrated. She has to deal with Tetsuya. She has to worry about her niece and nephew. She has to protect her brothers and the war effort. All the while, she has to make sure her baby gets to see the light of day. She shakes with rage, she doesn't need all these people bombarding her with questions.

Why can't they just smile and give her a pat on the back? Nobody has said sorry for your loss. Where's her husband buried, the father of her child? Did anyone even bury her blood brother and her people? Are they just rotting in the sun back home? She closes her blazing eyes, trying to calm herself, biting her lip.

Pet's slightly breathless as her anger builds; those around her have been thoroughly silenced, "Stop questioning me and show a little respect." She doesn't meet their eyes and just stays with her head bowed and her claws buried in the wood of the table. Poor table, she didn't mean to.

Dragon clears his throat, "You've made a very good point, Pet. You owe no explanation to me. I know your intentions are good." Pet knew she would have Dragon on her side from the start, he has no reason to doubt her, and they have a strictly formal relationship. She respects him and he respects her, they've both aided each other in equal ways. Pet turns her attention to the other head of the table as Luffy's eyes are hidden beneath the shadow his strawhat, downcast. The Pirate King takes a shaky breath, "Fine. Do as you like."

Pet releases a shaky breath, "I was already going to do that." She turns and slips out of the room. eager to leave the thick air. Law catches up a little later, trying to match her stride. She's still got her monster height going for her though with her monster long legs.

She looks over to him when he asks, "What are you going to do now?"

Pet squares her shoulders, "I'm beginning my hunt."

Law frowns, "Right now?"

Pet nods, "I need to kill something or someone as of about now." And she wants to cry... just a little bit. She wants to kill people as she cries, releasing her sorrow and her anger at the same time. A win for her and loss to anyone who gets in her way.

"Marines? Are you going on the battlefront? Do you know which?"

Pet nods, "I memorized the maps earlier, first I'm going to secure some locations and then I'm going to center my focus on eliminating Tetsuya."

They reach out on deck in no time, Law grows unsettled, "Don't you need a ship?"

Pet bolts and he looks just in time to see her pump power to her legs and jump like a missile through the air. He braces as the ship rocks beneath him. Once she's almost too high to be distinguished, he smirks at the dragon the appears from the clouds. A great roar and she's flying through the air at high speeds. He watches but a moment as she disappears into the darkness, a mere speck far away, when the door to the deck opens and Luffy and others run out. Luffy demands, "Were we hit?" He's looking ready for a fight.

Kid joins them, "What happened?" He notices the sly smile on Law's features. He feels slightly pleased at it, Law is a sadist just as much as he is. Are people going to be suffering?

Law turns to walk in, "Pet left, she said she's going on a hunt." Even better, Kid loves to watch Pet work, her methods of torture and killing are truly spectacular. He learns from her all the time, he respects her. She saved his ass when he met with Yonko before he was ready, helped him out when he lost his arm, though she didn't mean to. She was just passing through...

Luffy watches Law walk inside with Kid following, and he turns his gaze to the skies, telling himself, _She'll be fine._

Soon they'll all be setting out to various battlefields, claiming islands from the tyranny of the World Government. First they have to regroup and decide the best places to claim with the most advantage. Luffy sighs, he's the last one outside. His brain hurts, he has so much weighing him down with responsibilities and other worries. The one time he wishes he didn't have to fight. He's really feeling the pressure. He's not storming an island or building for just one land, he has to fight over many islands and for many people now. So many are counting on him and his allies. So many are counting on Pet, hell, he's even counting on her.

He doesn't turn when the door opens and he notes the small hand grasping his. He looks down and finds the young Azara peering up at him with her remarkably colored eyes. She offers a smile, "When Auntie gets back can we all play? I mean, you're my uncle theoretically." Azara tries to match Luffy's glowing grin.

"I suppose I am. Yeah, once we finish the war, we can all go to Sabaody, there's an amusement park there."

Azara smiles and nods, "Okay!" She's heard of amusement parks. She goes to run back inside and Luffy watches her go with a pensive face. What an interesting child. Pet made sure the children would be taken care of in all of their absence.

* * *

Her mind goes dark once she begins her flight, reliving her "torture". Boredom was the only thing really paining her. The interesting parts came when Tetsuya would slam open her cell and unleash his fury on her, using her as a punching bag and testing the sharpness of knives on her skin. She got to know him very well this way, almost too well. He gave away too much. She started to see him as a person instead of an enemy after a time, because she noticed... Dare she think it? Not yet, she doesn't want to face those facts. The facts that made her sympathize with her captor, but they're good enough reasons. She's not one to be fooled so easily.

In a few hours, she reaches her intended destination and transforms back without landing, instead she creates a big crater where she drops and walks out. Her lip curls in disgust at the desertion and the smell of the rotting flesh, smoldering still from her fire. The first battlefield outside Marine HQ is her current location. She has to pass through the eerily silent beach into the equally mysterious HQ grounds. The Marines up and abandoned the place after she went on her rampage, not that she destroyed HQ, itself, but they feared her return and decided it best not to come back. The playing field has been leveled since they don't know where the Revolutionaries new base is and the Revolutionaries don't know where their's is, although Pet can easily track them all down. She noses around the joint, before shifting into her wolf form. It feels different after her coming of age, if it didn't already feel like a second skin before, it does now, like she's always the wolf, but she's not.

Her dragon form will take a bit more getting used to. She can't hold it for extended periods of time without feeling faint.

Daray also seems to be more in tune with her, she's not sure how his perception of time works. She just knows he never complains, and sometimes she feels oddly alone in her head, like he's no longer needed since she's pretty much gotten everything handled. He doesn't have to voice his opinions as much, she's at peace with herself now. She does have her moments when he becomes more prominent, like any other human being. When Shanks was still around, Daray was mostly silent, since he's been gone, Pet has pieced herself back together mostly... She hopes she has. Her moment of weakness is passed and she's ready to be an adult. A pregnant adult with hormones no less.

She shifts back as she blinks at the small room she found on the second basement floor. Reaching out, she wraps her hands around her beauties. Picking them up, dusting them off, she slides them onto her back, their rightful place. Yes, she's no longer naked, she has protection from the other side. The gifts Agnes bestowed to her, the first weapons she relied on. Unsheathing at the same time, she inspects the blades and frowns. They've been well taken care of despite her absence.

_"I'm going to break those pretty little katana of yours."_

_"You'll never be able to break them."_

_"And what makes you so confident?" His eyes glint._

_"My foster mother gave them to me to protect me, and so I could protect others."_

_She barely notices the shadow cover his face, his mind went somewhere else for a moment, before he's back._

He never threatened her treasure again. When he aided in her arrest, she only agreed as long as they kept their hands off her stomach. He quirked his brows in interest and she had never seen that expression on him, then she told him quietly of her pregnancy. He was shocked but gave her his word, no one would deal too much damage. Thinking back on it, he didn't have to promise her this, if they all had the belief she would die soon anyways. Pet shakes her head, no, it's because he knew that she could bust out whenever he wasn't around to tussle with her. She's such a fool sometimes.

She replaces the katana in their sheath and walks out to visit one more place before she leaves to kill some Marines. Hasn't she learned? She should never stoop to provide her neck to the dogs, nothing good ever comes of it. She did want to punish herself, but she didn't want to die. She felt confident enough to prevent that whenever the possibility might have arisen. She didn't count on Shanks' death, she assumed he was the constant in her life on the run and battle. Nothing is constant. Everything changes.

She thinks of Luffy and Law. Law has grown softer since the incident in Dressrosa and what followed. Luffy lost something too when Shanks died and before that. He's grown confident and cocky in his fame, maybe rightly so, and she hasn't always proven herself to him, so he's begun to doubt her abilities like never before. He had the misfortune of visiting her when she was severely burned by Tetsuya. The image of her covered in bandages, moaning like a mummy from all the pain inflicted. He saw how human she was in that moment, despite looking like a monster. He thought he could've done better, he didn't realize the circumstances, she never informed him.

Pet sighs, "Someday I'm going to tell them everything, once I figure it all out for myself."

_Can he wait that long? He's always been impatient. Law I can understand, Luffy... Even Sabo seems to be less forgiving..._

Pet shrugs and her voice echoes off the concrete walls of the lower levels, "They've grown up a lot these past years. I don't need them as a reason to exist anymore, if they want to push me away because I'm not meeting their standards, then they're not the same boys I met all those years ago." Pet pats her slightly larger tummy. Law will stay by her, he's not as demanding since he lost so much at such a young age. He's grateful for what he has now. Sabo's a bit more forgiving and Pet can see the underlying frustration, but he's more patient.

Pet finally arrives at her destination and has to cut her reflecting short. She grins slyly at the cleanliness of the place, computers and machines still up and running. She knew he'd have to leave some things behind. He can't take everything with him when they relocate. Now, Pet takes a seat in a rolling swivel chair and stretches her arms out in front of her, stretching her hands and cracking her knuckles. She taps into her computer knowledge and begins typing away, bringing up old files hidden within the machines. She rolls about occasionally and looks to his past experiments, she's looking for one in particular. She also delves into his research and video diaries of his theories on certain things...

* * *

Her eyes flutter open and she yawns, her feet are propped up on the desk, next to the lone computer, one of the many she just dug through and cracked with ease. She kicked back to process the information and ended up taking a nap. Rubbing her eyes, she freezes at the noise. Swinging around in her chair, she looks up to the slimmer Pacifista, still tall and in her old pal Kuma's likeness. Its eyes keep flashing and Pet waits with a smile, "Did someone hear I was looking for them?"

Its mouth opens and his voice projects from a speaker within. "Why didn't you kill him when you had the chance, Pet-chan?"

Pet shakes her head, "Now now, you've kept secrets from me, dear friend. I think I've uncovered all of them and sent you a little signal to notify that someone was hacking into your system. Where you at? Let's talk."

She hears his humor-less, nervous laugh, "Only on my terms, when we've won the war, I'm hoping you'll be a great patient. You don't know the whole story, Pet."

After his first words, she becomes aware of the pit of snakes writhing in her stomach, she holds her anger, "I do. I'm taking you down, Vegapunk." She stands so the chair slides out behind her and stares into the camera on the Pacifista, "It's not you who's the smartest doctor. You'll be my patient, worse, after what you've done to me. Betrayed me time and again, and now I find out you've done the worst thing that I'm speechless you were capable of it. And it's not like suddenly I was out of the picture and you had no moral compass, no, you did these experiments, made this monster while I was still around. You all kept this weapon behind my back, using my blood. You're all going to pay, because this weapon, this copy, will never compare to the original. He's not the one that can save you from my wrath. He's not the one who was prophesied."

The Pacifista barely begins to move before Pet has unintentionally blown it to smithereens. Pieces clatter against the walls and she'll be damned if Vegapunk didn't shit and piss himself after her warning. Who's she kidding? They were all warned before she was even born that when the next came, another great change was going to occur and it all falls on her, she's the one turning the tide.

She retracts her fist and blows debris off it, then walks out.

* * *

The cool, salty breeze from the ocean brushes his raven hair. He grins to himself, finally they're done talking. Finally, he can join the fight and help out his brother and father. They all agreed to send the major players to key points in the world and release the control of the tyrant power. It was only as he was walking down the path to his ship, his primary ship in his fleet that he saw the messenger running with an unsettled countenance.

His grin lessens slightly but he wipes off the anxiety, "What's the problem?"

The young woman slides to a stop in front of him, he looms over her with his muscles bulging. She stares at them for a moment, before her sapphire eyes find his obsidian. She takes a deep breath and promptly salutes him while answering, "I was just given word that 'Demon Wolf' Pet has made contact with the Marines and they're falling back in Alabasta."

Luffy raises a brow, "She... What is she doing there?"

The revolutionary shakes her head, "We're unsure, but she seems to have them on the run."

Luffy nods, "Go tell the others, and I was heading there anyways."

Unfortunately, Queen Vivi couldn't jeopardize her people by getting involved, she couldn't spare the forces to aide Luffy, and he couldn't spare them to protect her country from the occupation of the Marines after the walls came down. They drafted in her country despite her refusal, now she's in a lot of trouble with her unhappy people. He could never forget the trust of his nakama, she's in trouble, so he's going to help her. Sabo and the rest tried to tell him that his energies would be better spent elsewhere for the time being, but he was firm in telling them that he'd do the same for them and not to worry. Tetsuya should still be sleeping off the heavy dose of drugs, if he's anything like Pet, then he won't die, just sleep for a long time. They're counting on it, he won't be in the fight for a while.

As Luffy and his crew set sail, he informs them, "Pet is already in Alabasta. Apparently she's giving the Marines a good whooping."

Zoro crosses his arms, "For Vivi? She doesn't really know Vivi, right?"

At the discrepancy, Luffy recalls, "She's hunting."

Sanji takes a puff, "Who's in Alabasta?"

Luffy shrugs, "I have no idea."

The crew stand in silence until Nami decides, "There's no use worrying about it. Let's get there and find out for ourselves. We'll be there in five hours."

* * *

Doing her thing, Pet's clawed hands dig deeper into her victim's flesh and he releases a howl of pain, "Where are you guys hiding them? Tell me." His blood pools out the holes she's boring into his back, then it spills down his sides and she gets closer to tickling his lungs with her fingers. Involuntary tears slide down his face.

He whimpers, "I don't know."

Pet's fangs glimmer as she smiles, "I actually don't need to torture you for the information. I just thought it would be fun."

This catches the Vice Admiral off guard, "What do you mean?"

Pet chuckles, "I mean, your will is too weak compared to mine, I got the information as soon as my fist connected with your face."

The man trembles, they've been at it for five minutes, at the most, but five minutes feels like an eternity when being tortured. Pet holds him by the back of his neck, "I know you tried to be strong, but I know Vegapunk was here and that's why you all were so adamant about taking over Alabasta, because he had some business here looking for a good hideout in the sands probably, and now, thanks to you, I know exactly where he went."

"You ca-" The world will never know how that sentence could've turned out since Pet's already snapped his neck.

She straightens to her full height with his blood still dripping from her claws. She's in the palace. Dead Marines litter the floor around her, she pops her shoulders. Outside the palace, there are many moans or screams of pain. It came as a great surprise when an alabaster dragon emerged from the clouds and descended on them in the courtyard. She ended most of them quickly when she blew white hot fire, then she was standing in the midst of a bonfire. They were ash in the wind by the time reinforcements arrived. When she shifted back to her normal self, her eyes were strangely yellow. The Vice Admiral she just killed was at the top of the steps and he ordered the attack, but she smirked when the warriors of Alabasta began assaulting them by running into the square. She was counting on them.

The fight is mostly done as Pet follows the scent. She weaves through the castle and ends up finding the queen in a bare room. She's held captive in her own home, subdued in a chair when Pet enters the room. Pet halts for a moment, before raising her pale chin, she's disheveled with one black eye, with some dried blood on her chin. Pet almost laughs but holds it in, it's just, she was only hit twice. As she undoes the bonds, Vivi stirs. Pet blinks at her as she's freed. Pet is immovable as Vivi lunges, gripping her shoulders, "Where's my husband!?"

"I don't know. I think he's in another room."

Vivi buries her face in Pet's neck, "Can we find him? They told me he was being punished way worse as the king, since he refused to calm our people, that I should consider myself lucky." Pet rolls her eyes at Vivi's tears on her skin. She's always been extremely emotional.

"I was going to find him next, did you want to join me?"

Vivi straightens up and moves to take a step forward with Pet to catch her, she's unsteady. Pet merely carries her bridal style as she follows her nose. She can't help feeling a little perturbed, she's aloof because of Vivi's immense emotion, yet her husband must be really sure of her love for him. Should Pet have been more devoted to Shanks? Sure, she had a hectic life on the run, but maybe if she stopped running and allowed Shanks to stand beside her, they could have faced anything. Was he ever extraordinarily upset with her absence?

He was so supportive during her fight with the Gorosei. She needed him to ensure Bonney would be on their side, she trusted him with the position. Should she have fought the Gorosei side by side. She doesn't doubt Shanks capabilities, she just needed to settle an old score with the old farts. Did he resent her for it? Did he want to be by her side, fighting her demons together? She could drive herself crazy with the insecurities.

Vivi prompts, "Is he here?"

Just as she asks, Pet stops and draws a deep breath. She recognizes the copper and bursts into a run with Vivi questioning, "What's wrong, Pet-san?!"

Pet slides past the door before inching back and breaking it down. Vivi gasps at the sight while Pet's eyes narrow. She lets Vivi down and rushes up to him. She understands that others don't have her tolerance for pain, so the cuts and bruises probably did have a big impact on him. Swiftly, she breaks his shackles holding him up, he groans at the pain in his arms from being held up by them for so long. Vivi fights back sobs from where she sits on the floor. He sighs as Pet's veins in her arms enlarge, and his pain is taken away. She slides one arm around his waist, he's still out of it. One arm over her shoulder, she's practically carrying him anyways. Vivi walks over, pressing her forehead to his, she plants a kiss on his cheek before supporting his other side. She works through her own discomfort and asserts, "We're going to get you all better."

Pet lets Vivi direct them until they hear voices. Vivi asks, "Are those more Marines?"

Pet answers by calling out, "Over here! We need a medic!"

"It's Pet-san!"

"She said they need a medic!"

Pet shrugs, either way the guy is going to live, he's always been strong.

Some of the freed guards run to them and offer shock at the appearance of their leaders. The medic makes way and gets to bandaging up the king and queen. Vivi insists she's fine and that she wants her people to be protected in the neighboring cities of her country. Pet assures her, "I'll take care of the pests. You focus on yourself and him." She jerks her chin at the wounded man. "I'll be back before you wake." Vivi watches her turn her back and leave. She swallows. She has total faith and trust in Pet's words, she knew Luffy had successfully saved her and the reports of the dragon, but even without the power she tapped into, Pet was already a one woman army. Why would her ancestor's entrust so much power to her? What's her purpose?

Not even Pet has the answer, the White Dragon Empress' lineage is incomplete, why dragon? Uchiha Yuki gave the answer as to what happens, but the information as to why was lost long before her time.

Pet finds the Marines on the run, she merely chases them out, killing when it suits her. She knows the less she lets live, the less to fight her another day. She watches from the clouds at their retreating sails, and notices the Thousand Sunny way off into the distance. She flies back to the palace to check up on Vivi and await Luffy.

Luffy meets the retreating ships and they try to sink Sunny. Big mistake. Luffy has no problem dealing with Pet's leftovers, he could blow off some steam too.

Meanwhile, Pet flies back, fancying the stories of dragons and princesses with knights. If only she could escape her duties for a while, like she could with Shanks. She recalls when she and Shanks went to dinner by themselves, they dressed in disguise and partied while chaperoned by Marines on a Marine controlled island. They had fun chatting up Marines, snickering to themselves when the Marines remarked on enjoying their company. Shanks dressed as an old man while Pet was dressed as an old woman, they were both walking on their canes bickering and laughing, instructing the younguns on love. When they both walked off, hunched over yet arm in arm, they got to a quiet square with a fountain in the center. The music could still be heard from the party and they both straightened to their full height and danced. When they heard people coming, they took their little dance to a roof.

Pet transforms back and lands on a balcony. She wipes her tears quietly before walking back inside, those days are gone, it's best she move on. She sighs and walks inside, a small smile grows after she sees Vivi laying against her love. Pet sits in a chair up against the wall and draws up her legs, facing the two. She sinks deeper into her memories and without thinking, pats her steadily growing stomach. She's glad it's fully within her capability to show others her memories. In this way, her child will know their father as Pet did.

After a long while, Pet feels a light shake on her shoulder and she opens her eyes to Luffy's concerned features. She drops her legs and stands, seeing Vivi still asleep with the King. Luffy grabs her hand and leads her out. Once they're far enough away Luffy slows to a halt and Pet blinks at him. She doesn't pull her hand away, it's comforting. He watches her, "Are you okay?"

Pet nods and adds a smile, "Of course, just got tired waiting around for you. I chased the Marines away, Alabasta should be free now."

Luffy dips his head, "Why did you come here?"

"I'm on the hunt, the person I'm hunting spent some time here and I needed information on where he went next, just gathering up some information on what he was working on before I walk into his base. I'd like to know what to expect."

Luffy squeezes her hand, causing her to furrow her brows, he draws her into his arms, she allows him his moment and rests her head on his shoulder, "Please be careful."

Pet returns his hug, "I'm not going easy on anyone ever again, Luffy-kun. I can't afford it anymore. I know you're remembering all the times that I failed because I wasn't careful or serious, and you're comparing the times when you weren't as well. I promise you, it's going to be okay. I can't tell you everything just yet, it's not in me, but I will. Just let me do what I gotta, and you're going to hear all about it."

Luffy nods, "I trust you. I'm sorry I didn't before, but I trust you now."

Pet smiles and presses her lips to his forehead like she used to do when she tucked her boys into bed. He smiles at her and she ruffles his hair.

They pull away when Chopper in his beast form and Usopp come into view down the hall. They perk up when Pet gives them her winning smile. "You guys all came. Is the crew all together?"

Usopp shakes his head, "Zoro and Sanji are leading some forces to other areas, we parted with them before we got here. Franky and Brooke are with the ship. Nami's a bit behind with Robin and Jimbei is still with his people helping keep them safe."

Pet acknowledges with a dip of the head and Nami and Robin also join them. Nami is quick to ask the important questions, "Where's Vivi?"

Pet answers, "She's resting with him."

They all look when the door to their room opens, Vivi appears in the doorway. Nami rushes to her while Robin hangs back slightly, they haven't had time to acquaint themselves with each other just yet. At her nakama's presence, Vivi cries and bursts forward. As she's enveloped in their love, she turns to Pet, "He's in pain. He's-He's groaning."

Pet nods and brushes past the little comfort-fest.

Nami pulls away, looking into Vivi's brown eyes, "What happened to you guys, is Kohza-kun alright?"

Vivi responds, "He hasn't woken up yet, but..." She trails off when she remembers the fear and stress since the war began, waiting for her friends' support.

Pet's definitive tone echoes from within the room, "Leave it alone, Nami-chan. They're both going to be fine." She presses her hand to Kohza's sweaty forehead and her eyes shimmer blue. She finds herself seeing his dream of unspeakable horrors he worries happened to Vivi. Pet shares her calm and her own relief that they're both safe, she washes him with her presence and Luffy's that he wouldn't know of yet. He's safe and Vivi's safe. A calm settles over his previously pained expression, and his black as night eyes open to the calmly lit room with little slivers of sunlight passing through the curtains.

Kohza's hoarse voice calls, "Vivi-"

Pet smiles nodding, and Vivi runs into the room at the sound of his voice. She assures him, "I'm okay." He opens his arms and they embrace. Pet backs out, as she turns around she hears Vivi call, "Pet-san, thank you."

Kohza adds, "Thanks for everything. We're safe."

Pet grins, "Of course you are. Be seeing you." Before they can stop her, she's disappeared.

Luffy assures them, "She has some special mission to attend, no time to stop for thanks. I'm sure she'll visit when she has time."

* * *

Pet walks calmly out of the palace, she invaded in the night and leaves as the sun's light fades from this part of the world. Pet smiles at the cheering as she transforms and takes off with great gusts bursting through the courtyard. The people call out to her even as she gains a higher and higher altitude. Like a high speed airplane, she speeds forward and escapes the sun, its warmth lessens. The words that follow her never leave her mind, all the thanks and yielding emotion. She could feel mothers and children crying out, men yelling for her. Pet feels her heart grow at the gratitude.

_You are so pregnant._

_I know._

She shakes the vile feelings off her. She has no time for them right now, she needs to get to the next island.

Later, she reaches her intended destination, they were waiting for her. Taking evasive maneuvers she angles her massive body into a dive. Flying isn't hard at all as long as she has her wings, it's like she was born to do this. They try shooting harpoons with chains to try to ground her, however, she's going too fast and she pulls up to face the tall walls surrounding the city. From her jaws, gas leaks until she unleashes a wildfire upon the wall, blasting it out of her way. She could've just went over it anyways, but she felt like destroying something they might consider precious. Her wings slice through the wall that wasn't blown away with ease, she's mythical.

Mythical beasts, even if they're devil fruits, are something one should never trifle with. As Marines shoot at Pet's massive form, their bullets can't penetrate her strangely metallic scales, bullets bounce off her wings. Powerful gusts flow through the streets as Pet flies with her talons barely scraping rooftops. She doesn't waste her time killing Marines, she's heading to the root. The square comes into view, a stone castle. With a great beat of her wings, any insects below her intended landing sight are blown away and knocked into walls. As she transforms back, she smiles, it was unnecessary to clear the area.

Taking a deep breath, she pushes open the towering wood doors. She's greeted with rows of guns pointed at her. She barely has time to blink before, "Fire!"

"Ice Time Capsule."

Pet still already got out of the way as the entire castle and into the square has become an icy wonderland. When Pet lands on the ground, she slides inside and finds him, tackling him in a hug. He grabs her as they spin along the ice coated floor. She smiles into him, "Long time Kuzan-kun."

"Ah, er, your stomach is bigger."

In the next second, he's holding the bulge on his bandanna covered head on the ground, muttering to himself. Pet huffs, "I was so happy to see you a second ago."

Aokiji offers a small smile, "Pet, what are you doing here?"

"I guess you would know. Any intel around here about Vegapunk?"

Aokiji frowns, "I've only been here for a day, I'm working up to taking this island for the Revolutionaries." He yawns, "I was napping until you got here."

Pet sits beside him on the ground, and he asks, "Why do you need to know about Vegapunk, I thought you two were friends? Is he making something to help the Marines?"

Pet sighs, "I think he's building Ancient Weapons. That among some other concern of mine, I need to know how far along he is. We don't have those weapons, and it could spell trouble if they're brought into existence. As long as Poseidon is safe, they can only use Pluton... Nobody knows about Uranus, but..." Pet has to take a deep breath.

Aokiji presses, "But what? What do you know Pet?"

Pet covers her face, "I think there are two more Ancient Weapons besides those three."

Aokiji's jaw drops, "What do you mean!? How do you know!?"

Pet fans him down, "It's my speculation. I'm not sure. We-"

He stops her, "No, you need to stop this if you're right. Look around, I'll take care of the troops outside. I really don't want to go up against an Ancient Weapon, as a former Admiral with the Navy, we were privy to information others weren't. We know they're capable of things beyond our imagination."

Pet smiles, "I'm doing everything in my power to catch up, but I'm not sure how far he's gotten yet."

Aokiji stares her down, "Then hurry up, no time to nap anymore, Pet." He leaves her watching his receding back, she turns to follow the tracks. Aokiji is pretty cool when he's all business-like, but then, he's always cool, like ice or snow...

Pet finishes her business with a sigh of relief, still no time to waste as Aokiji informed her. She decides to go directly for Vegapunk. She doesn't know exactly where Vegapunk is headed with his theories of more Ancient Weapons, but she knows he hasn't concluded his research yet, with this last place, however, he only went to one other location. She's going to find him and end him before he can do something they'll all regret, and take her revenge.

She walks outside and smiles, holding out her hand to catch the flurries of snow falling from the cloudy skies, it was clear and hot when she first arrived. She runs up to Kuzan, he has his overcoat billowing out in the nippy air. As she comes to a stop beside him, the moon shines from behind the cover, she remembers.

_He smiles and his teeth resemble pearls in the lighting. She can't help how moved she is. The ice on the lake sparkles and the trees hold snow and ice formed straight down to a point. She has yet to give him her smile as she finds the mattress with blankets and pillows so they can sleep under the twinkling stars. She walks down the slope towards it and sees the little candle showing the food prepared. It has been a while since they went on a date, since Tetsuya and the incident with the Gorosei. _

_Tetsuya has been behind a bit for a while. Pet can allow herself to let her guard down this one time. Her husband buries his face in the crook of her neck, hugging her from behind with his one arm, "Is this okay?"_

_Pet addresses him finally, "Do you have to ask?" She turns in his arm to return the hug, and kiss him deeply. Pulling away, she memorizes the bright light in his eyes, the warmth emanating from him. _

_He smiles lightly and asks, "What are you up to?"_

_Pet merely responds, "I'm memorizing everything about this moment."_

_Shanks grins deviously, "We haven't even experienced it all yet and after this, I have so much more planned for us."_

_Pet wraps her legs around his waist, holding herself upright with her arms about his neck. She matches his playful tone, two kids in love, "I can't wait."_

Pet turns away from the scene and begins walking away, Aokiji swivels slightly, "Get it done Pet. Even if they don't know, we're all counting on you."

Her voice cracks ever so slightly, "Of course." That's when their first child was conceived, she found out and went to think, only for Tetsuya to find her and burn her alive.

Pet growls as she enters an outer level of the atmosphere, she doesn't want to be tracked. The stars twinkle and her eyes are slits as she greets the sun again. Strangely, the warmth feels homey on her scales. Home... Fire builds in her throat at her anger. _Enough! Stop! I can't take it anymore!_

The translucent dragon roars a battle cry that carries across the land below. They can't see her, but they know she's near, coming. She's coming for them, for some reason. Revenge? Justice? Has her reasoning always been so simple? It can't be, can it? Family?

As she dives, she goes into a spiral, a spiraling bullet that gains and when she stops, more gusts flare outward. A dragon facing off against a great battalion of relocated Marines. Their Headquarters is elsewhere, this place is a major threat to the whole revolution anyway. Once she levels this island, she'll just have Tetsuya, and then she can retire when she finishes her business with him. She trusts the Revolutionaries to take care of the rest.

She moves to descend on them, but her pale blue eyes catch the flashing light, powering up, before it releases the cannon. There's a resounding boom after it's released. Pet's literally blasted out of the sky with the power of it. She tumbles through the air before a last beat to save her from the sea's embrace. She doesn't want to test if the sea will drown her in this form.

Her serpent head finds the monstrous ship, her lip curls and her serpent tongue slides out, testing the air. Her scales tingle at the sight, like her coding recalls seeing the ancient ship from before.

_He's not supposed to have finished it!_

_Pet, this isn't safe for you! You need help!_

Pet shakes herself out as the ship recharges another blast. She roars and maneuvers atop, opening her jaws to grab the device on the bow of the ship. It creaks and she lands with no remorse, digging her talons in and smacking her tail around. The Marines manning the weapon fire upon her, she blows fire from where she chomps on the cannon. It spreads throughout, burning her enemies to ash, but not enough to destroy the ship itself.

She lets go, blowing smoke from her nostrils. Releasing an earthshaking roar that churns the surrounding waters. Her eyes bulge when the cannon flips over and shoots her in the neck with a continuous beam. She growls and swings her thick tail over and bashes the cannon over and over. By the time her anger has subsided, the Marines have positioned ships surrounding the legendary. Even with Pet's assault, she didn't cause too much havoc to its frame.

_I don't have time for this._

His laugh booms around her, "Haha, we were expecting you."

The world whizzed by so fast, Pet didn't have time to examine her surroundings. The ship she rides is big enough to hold her dragon body. The ship has a deep blue color, shiny in the sun, like her dazzling white scales. She has her forearm hooked on the mast. Towering high, she blinks at the two islands, one small, one main. The smaller is where they keep their ships and it has fortifications. The main has more foliage, she can't see into the heart of the island. His island, with his lab hidden it, where he does heinous things to nameless people.

Her gravelly voice thunders across the land, "You'll never be one step ahead of me, Vegapunk! I knew you'd be waiting! Face me, coward! Receive justice for your crimes against humanity!"

He returns, "This time, Pet, you're wrong. Execute her."

Pet bats her free wing and the ships are blown away and some crash into one another. She releases the mast and unleashes her fury on the ships in front of her. The flames spew into the others, uncontrollable. A ship in the rear draws her attention as she takes to the sky.

Instead of white or blue flames, it is engulfed in the typical orange and red. Within the flames stands a figure, she recognizes him instantly. It tears at her heart, she doesn't want to fight him. Anyone else...

Retaining her silence, he walks forward to the bow, comes to a halt atop the figurehead. Her pale blue eyes meet his fiery red, he utters quietly, resignedly, "He finished his research. You know about the two Ancient Weapons; the oldest. During the Void Century, only one came to being. Yuki didn't have her counterpart... Now, since the legend was lost long ago, the question is: who is who? I know you would want to think that you're the lighter half, but I disagree."

Pet's features have almost frozen over, solemn, like a statue. She murmurs, "Hades."

He laughs, "Who will win, Zeus?"

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Well, there ya have it. So much to cover anyways... Lots of ellipses... Let me know what ya'll think, Review, Follow, Favorite. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	28. Mistakes and Consequences

_Enjoy._

* * *

_I sigh as there's hurrahing and cheers of approval when I come to a halt at the front of the battalions. It's not that I'm upset about being here, I've just played this game too many times. I roll my neck as some unfamiliar Vice Admiral draws his sword, pointing it at me, "This is your last chance to surrender!"_

_There's a chorus of laughing from our side as I put my fists up, curl and uncurl my fingers to motion for him to bring it on. I offer a smirk, although something unsettles me about his own. He knows of me surely, why is he smiling? What are they planning?_

_Setting my unease aside, I pump my fist upward, "Attack!" An uproar occurs as they all rush to meet. Just before the armies can actually turn into a fray, the Marines falter at my appearing in a crouch next to their Vice Admiral, the leader of this battle, in this country. I stand to my full height and tilt my head to him with no emotion. His eyes find me, he's already dead, however, as he falls to his knees with gaping slash marks at his front, his insides tumbling out and his neck seeping his own precious life liquid._

_I take no pleasure in this, but an example must be made. I can hear the heartbeats of both Marines and Revolutionaries quickening. They fear me, but I don't care. In war, I am the master, I am the go-_

_I don't get to finish my thought as my senses go on red alert. Who's that laughing? I stand amidst a torrent of people, a perimeter around me as the Marines try to avoid challenging me, not after what I just did. I can hear deep laughing, chuckling, before the voice almost clear as day, right next to me ear seemingly, muses, "So this is the legendary Demon Wolf everyone always talks about?"_

_I jolt away from the man with his back to me, What the fuck? How'd he slip past? He's not wearing a common Marine uniform, his has more of the blue than the white. Some kind of Admiral? I remain staring at him, pondering over his identity and how he managed to evade my radar. I order, "State your name and rank, soldier."_

_His shoulders shake as he chuckles, "Might as well give you my life story, but there'd be no fun in that." Just as I'm about to go for him he slides to the side. I didn't even get a step in before he moved, anticipating me. No one anticipates me. I quirk a smile._

_"I just would like to know who I'm going to be killing."_

_He turns to me, and immediately my eyes flicker red at his own scarlet. His intimidation and mine clash, with neither side winning. I cock my head at him, his dark blue attire, a nice shirt and pants with black shoes, the coat on his shoulders. I admire his raven hair, and the red tips at his spikes. I wonder aloud, "Are those natural?"_

_He shakes his head with a smile, "No."_

_I shrug, "Nice color anyways." I barely dodge a snap punch. He's quick, so am I, more so in fact. I repeat, "State your name and rank soldier."_

_He jeers, "I don't take orders from you!" I dance with him a little, step back, step to the side, step to the side, step forward, step back. I crouch as his fist flies above me, I tackle him, throwing him into the air, but both our shins collide as I was about to kick him to the ground. The air seems to tear where we kick and the force pushes us away from each other. I fly higher while he falls, kicking the air, I punch his gut so we both fall to the ground. We jump from the crash site, putting distance between us. _

_I can't shake this feeling. He's extraordinary, he's barely fazed from that punch. How can that be? Not that I've never faced a strong opponent, he just reminds me of... He reminds me of me. His style, his feel, it's like mine, although he just has one solitary katana at his back, unlike my twin blades._

_Despite myself, I laugh heartily, "Things are getting interesting!" _

_The fight was indeed very interesting as he and I traded blows at an increasing rate for hours and hours. Until as we were catching our breath, he prompted, "Why haven't you used your devil fruit power against me?"_

_I narrow my eyes, "Doesn't seem appropriate to, and I have been trying to get you with my claws? Are they not good enough for you or something?" _

_He smiles, "I figure it's time to explore other options. I'm done messing around, I'm going to kill you now, Pet."_

_I straighten at his words, eager to meet the challenge. What's he got up his sleeve? I whisper, "Nice knowing you." I seem to teleport to him, and knee him in the gut, but he grabs my shoulder and I howl at his scalding touch. I flinch away pressing my hand to the flames, they're not going out. I beat them and beat them, but they won't be put out, only burn me further, before I scream as I tear my own flesh off with my claws, and throw it to fizzle away under the flame. My shoulder seems to pour blood and I turn my devilish gaze upon my enemy, because that's who he is. I almost forgot. He sneers at me as he wipes blood from his chin. There's more where that came from._

_As he's celebrating my pain, he doesn't expect a speedy comeback. I am simply gone from his sight, and the next moment he feels my wrath as my sharp canines sink into his own shoulder. He, too, howls with pain as my wolf-claws latch onto him. He tries beating me, but this form does not break easily. None have ever been able to break my wolf's bones, they may be able to pierce my skin, but they cannot break me. _

_Finally, through the pain that must be clouding his judgement, fire engulfs him which therefore engulfs me. I roar with rage and jump from him, before the flames can catch me. Circling the fiery man, I growl and run, taking evasive maneuvers as he shoots fire at me. Just as he sends a massive wave, I dig my claws in and howl with slicing wind. The fire is extinguished with nothing to burn, and he takes a knee with gashes marring his flesh. I just have the shoulder wound and burn marks, with a couple bruises from earlier. _

_He heaves with effort to breath before he looks up in time to see me charging him for the kill bite. He won't plague me any further. From his palm, he releases another inferno, but I shift sliding under the wave of flames, and kick his chin so he flies in the air. He recovers quickly, however, and just as I'm jumping to deal another blow, he blasts me in a pillar of fire. _

_He tires and allows himself to fall, just as I, too, fall to my knees, howling and rolling on the dirt, before I'm forced to tear myself apart and quench the flames of their fuel. They're put out when I have blood running along my skin. I turn to him with the foulest intent and malice in my heart, he will know pain._

_I shiver at the anticipation of his suffering, beginning to inch towards him. He also lays in a pool of blood, leaking from everywhere. I growl before a familiar voice, one I was not expecting, reaches me, "Pet," it repeats before adding, "The war is over, we've won, you can stop." I look at my younger brother, his big eyes and scar come into focus. _

_He seems concerned, but I turn back to the one who burned me, "He must die first." I do survey my surroundings for the first time in what feels like ages. There's desolation surrounding us, corpses litter the battlefield, our battlefield. _

_"Please, Pet, it's been three days."_

_I nod and crawl on shaking limbs to end the raven. It makes sense, we both let ourselves go for who knows how long. Earthquakes and thunderstorms were common before we moved on to testing our supernatural powers against each other. Even as I seem to make an effort to finish the fight for good, I hesitate. He smells familiar, he feels familiar. I can't accept it, and push myself to continue, to end him, but I feel as though I'd be missing something if I did. Like something big will happen and I'm curious to find out his role in it all. I shake uncontrollably with exhaustion and indecision. Sabo frets, "Pet! It's okay. Let them retreat."_

_That's when I notice the other person, standing by, nervous looking. I divine that they're waiting to carry this sap off the battlefield. Sabo touches my blood soaked back, and I flinch away, "No, he must be erased." At my words, the unnamed fellow rolls and crouches. He faces me with a hard glint in his eye, my lip curls in a snarl at him._

_"You can call me Tetsuya and I have no rank."_

_I mutter, "I don't care anymore," and tackle him so we roll at each other's throats. Somehow I end up underneath, digging my claws into his shoulders as his hands burn mine. I kick him repeatedly, before finally hissing madly, I kick him off me. _

_He barks at the subordinate, "Get over here and help me, fool!"_

_I'm running to attack him, before his hand goes out and he throws a continuous line of fire at my baby brother. I'm mid-step and instinctively -I don't know how I know Sabo will be affected by his flames, I just do- I tackle Sabo to the ground as the fire blasts into my back. I, once again, shriek in pain, rolling off him as the flames eat away at my skin._

_Tetsuya is supported as the two make a getaway, although his subordinate will end up having to heft the wounded man over his shoulder when he falls unconscious. I whimper occasionally while the fire eats all that it can. Sabo couldn't even touch me, as I found I had to hold him down, feeling my devil fruit's healing kick in to combat Tetsuya's power. Sabo merely watched helplessly at my expression of torment, held down and away from where my skin was disintegrating. Once the fire is contained by a surge of moon power, as it is night, I let Sabo go and fall atop him._

_Sabo turns to my face but cannot see it as I am turned away, his hands hover above me with his arms around me. When he touches me to try to get a response, he pulls his hands back to stare at the crimson liquid coating them. Pushing past his worry, he gets up, taking me with him as he carries me, hanging limply from his arms. He runs to the nearest hospital at top speed, fearing the worst._

_Luckily, I awaken within a day and a half to Shanks' voice. I open my eyes to his shining visage, and can't help smiling. He nudges me, "What are you so happy about all of a sudden?"_

_I grin, "Nothing, just love waking to my husband."_

_He leans down and plants a kiss on my forehead, "You worried some people, but I knew you'd be waking soon."_

_I nod, running my hands through my hair as I sit up, then scowling at the memory of what happened. He reads me perfectly, "I heard you made a new friend."_

_I stretch before grimacing, "Not this guy, he's not a friend, but he's new." Shanks could sense my unease on the matter. Later, Sabo rushed to visit me when he heard I was awake. He expressed his worry and his relief at my healing. I did inform the Revolutionaries of the new player, but I didn't know at the time that he was only ever going to try for me. I didn't realize until later that he was someone the Marines reserved solely for combating me, he didn't do anything unless he knew I'd be affected in some way. He was simply a dog on the hunt._

* * *

Pet's mighty wings continue keeping her in place and she watches Tetsuya from the sky, silent, remorseful. Even though they have a rocky relationship, a constant game of cat and mouse, now ancient weapon versus supposed ancient weapon, in this moment, with all the knowledge she's acquired on him influencing her decisions, she can still find it in her to say, "I don't want to fight you, Tetsuya."

Tetsuya howls with laughter, yet it's humorless, "You idiot! Of course you wouldn't want to! Not when you know you will lose!"

Okay, that may have incited a little anger, Pet breathes gas as she growls, "Idiot? What have they told you about me? About your purpose? You're nothing but a lab rat, worse, a soldier without a cause, saluting for no reason but to be used again and again. You're nothing without me. You exist because I do..."

Her words have bite, but Tetsuya continues chuckling, "Your point? It won't stop me from destroying you here and now."

Pet huffs, "You're misinterpreting my hesitation. You think me weak or afraid, as I suppose it's only natural. I just don't want to hurt you too bad. Since kaa-san and Masahiro-san aren't here to discipline you, I suppose it falls on me."

Tetsuya finally shakes with rage, "I killed all the Uchiha, they are nothing to me!"

Pet roars, "Don't whine to me! I'm sick of talk, let's get this over with so I can kill Vegapunk!"

The fire surrounding Tetsuya builds higher, lessening and then building once more. They cover him and Pet watches, intrigued as to what he has up his sleeve. She watches the wall of fire for a moment, then it's extinguished with another great black dragon appearing and charging her midair. Pet recoils in shock, harnessing her own flames and blowing them at it. It doesn't falter at the slight burns and moves to clamp its razor teeth around her serpent neck. She hisses, a beat of her wings and she has the higher ground, letting gravity aide her weight. The creatures may be hefty, but they're strangely agile. The charcoal dragon butts noses with the snowy, however, the snowy fires where their teeth smack. The black dragon roars and moves its head, blood drips from its mouth. The snowy isn't finished yet. She follows as her talons grip its wings, she bites onto its neck, her teeth penetrate the armor like nothing. Diamonds against rock. It doesn't give her satisfaction, however.

She beats her powerful wings, defying gravity and the pull, her wings can barely hold the two beasts up, she maneuvers so they are over the island. The black struggles in her teeth, hurting himself in the process as her talons tear his wings and her teeth sink deeper to get a better grip. He blows his own eternal flames on the surrounding island and sea, he cannot reach her. With her hold, her glacial blue meet with his magma red, her dragon lips pull into a smirk and she stops beating her wings and goes into a dive with the two. At the last minute, she opens her wings and flies above the treeline, his body causes a big ruckus with the island shaking from the hit and the birds and animals giving protest, trying to get away from the mythical battle.

She circles back and he unleashes an inferno on her. She shakes it off, regarding him simply, no soot mars her sparkling scales. He's choked up at the sight, with utter fury. As he moves to continue shooting fire at her, she shows him her tummy and with a uniform beat of the wings, gusts send it back to blind him and uproot any surrounding trees.

His voice is garbled as he growls, "Ow i' ossile." He starts at his own voice.

Meanwhile Pet lands in front of him, her head held high, her wings slightly spread, "You're second best. I know they thought they could make another just as good as me, using my DNA and merging it with one who carries the gene. The point is: you're not supposed to have this power. Zeus and Hades are ancient weapon worthy, but Zeus is the top for a reason."

He howls and moves to charge her again this time on land, he freezes, shaking. Pet eyes him and nods, "The toll is too much for you. You don't have it in you to best me. I'm the real dragon here. Your fire is nothing, your scales are weak to mine, you can't move as I can, and you can't hold your form for as long either. You weren't meant to have this power. Although, I'll admit Hades and Zeus are nice code names for Ancient powers. Concede Tetsuya, stay out of my way. Once Vegapunk is gone, your thoughts won't seem as cloudy."

The dragon before her turns to ash and Tetsuya lies face down on the dirt. He breathes, "Why do you want to save me? You know what I've done. I killed the Uchiha, hunted you, threatened everything you hold dear, still am. It can't be just because..."

Pet appears from the cloud created by her deformation, "It is merely because of that. I've never smelled malicious intent on you, it's forced on you. You don't wish it. He chose well in you, it's simply a part of my being to protect the Uchiha."

Tetsuya chuckles darkly, "And if you kill Vegapunk, what then? We live happily ever after as a family?"

Pet laughs, "I don't believe in happily ever afters. You get to choose a life, whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go. Do what makes you happy, be free. Family has never been my forte."

Tetsuya's red eyes fall on her stomach, "What about your offspring? What will you tell it of me?"

Pet frowns, her maternal instinct being summoned, "The truth preferably. Just stay here, while I go kill that quack doctor. He won't trouble anyone ever again."

A nothingness inhabits Tetsuya's mind, his primary instinct initiated. "You will not harm Vegapunk." He flies through the air about to make his foot connect with the back of Pet's head, before she redirects it and they both exchange blows via hand to hand. Pet growls as their powers build, gearing up to fight on another legendary level. One hit connects to her cheek and despite her stillness, fighting the force exerted, behind her it carries, cracking the earth beneath them.

She swipes him with her leg, his hand on the ground, bracing against, he bounces up in no time to continue. Right jab, step forward, step backward to evade his left snap kick, as he's going back, she goes for a straight punch. He dodges and returns with a spin kick. She catches his leg, trying to contain the fire within, "Back off already!"

Gripping his leg, he frowns, she spins, taking him with her, spinning and spinning, until she maneuvers him to slam into the ground. He catches himself, more earth breaking under the pressure, while he remains intact. Returning her hold with his legs, he throws her across the jungle, slamming into trees as she goes. He growls as he stands, "Why are you holding back?!" The air pulses around him, growing concentrated as he focuses his strength. He hesitates when the fog around him entirely covers his surroundings. He wonders aloud, "Where the fuck did this come from?"

He feels his nerves stand on end, as if... No, she can't be orchestrating this. She doesn't have the ability to control the weather like this? Then again, she does have a devil fruit she's rarely uses in fights against him, always preferring to fight him as a human. He stiffens as he hears disturbed bushes. A primal, human instinct screams at him to run, or prepare to fight, but preferably run! He feels as if he's being hunted, he can't hear anything more, he can't see, he feels surrounded. He scours around him, only seeing white, then freezes at the breathing, before he runs and jumps with his foot out only to bash in the ground. He breathes, there's nothing there. He has to think, think what? Battle strategy-

His knees practically quake when he hears a howl, was it close? He can't tell, like his perception is going wonky. Finally, to free him from the madness, Pet concedes, she pounces. He doesn't have time to defend himself as her sharp canines bore into his shoulder, a little too close for comfort to his neck. He grits and groans as his scarlet blood spills down his chest and suddenly, like a phantom, the culprit who wounded him is gone. He swears he heard echo through his mind the thought, "_I don't want to kill you, brother._"

He clutches his bleeding wound, "You will always be my enemy, Pet! You're to blame for everything!"

Pet, through her multicolored eyes, watches him, for her, she senses him as if she could really see him. The fog is her friend, a perk of her awakened devil, Daray has always been awake inside her. A devil that is the essence of the moon devil fruit she ate, that counterparts her and takes the form of her spirit animal. She silently circles him as he bleeds, clutching his wound.

He calls out, "You're a coward and a loser! Or you're just lazy, someone who thinks so highly of themselves but when it matters can't do a thing. No wonder your husband is dead, no wonder your child will die with you!"

Pet closes her eyes, opens them. She pads forward and stands a distance in front of him. Her red, yellow, and blue eyes seem to stand out amidst the fog, it's as if there's whispering, rustling. The wind is haunting him, but there's no wind.

The wind whispers, "I didn't know my parents had a child in my absence. I didn't know the Marines had people watching the village while I was away. I didn't know my mother kept the child hidden from the family and died protecting it only to have the Marines rip it away for some scientist's sick experimentation. I didn't know my father discovered his dead wife's secret and wiled away in shame and sadness. I didn't know you existed. I do know that I'm not perfect and I'm sorry for leaving you to grow up in such a way."

The words seem to emanate from everywhere, but the eyes continue peering out, the only clear thing in all the dense fog.

He clenches his teeth in anger, veins pulse throughout his body, he stands, breathing heavily. Fire ignites on his shoulder and his hands at his sides. The flames eat up the fog, a circle of fire bursts around him, as he grows steadily angrier, "Those words mean nothing to me. You cause strife and pain. You are the reason for mine, for my existence. Just die."

The fire grows and an inferno reaches out. Pet starts and runs as she's exposed and feels the fire licking at her, singeing her fur. She growls and throws herself, howling at it, so it's diverted back. She lands, still keeping pace and slides growling, leaping to tackle Tetsuya to the ground. He holds her back as she snaps at his neck, his hands burning at her skin. She stares into his red eyes, seeing the tumult, "_You murdered OUR brother and OUR family, burned OUR village to the ground! I didn't birth you, and I didn't experiment on you. You are a mistake with no reason for existence! I will not be held responsible for your sins! I know my own! And I can't be held responsible for a brother I didn't even know about! I don't want to kill you, but you're giving me no choice!_"

Tetsuya grits before he feels Pet's claws extend and bury into his flesh, he howls and releases so she can make for the kill bite for his throat. She jumps up, however, just as the beam tries to gorge through her. She looks about her, seeing the Pacifista walking from the facility.

Changing quickly, she powers her devil fruit down. Drawing her katana, her red eyes blazing, "Come to save your favorite subject, Vegapunk? Or just scared that you won't stand a chance if he's dead?"

They answer with attacks coming from all around her. She growls as some of the beams graze her and hits the ground running. The Pacifista follow her and skids to halt after witnessing one playing doctor on Tetsuya. In her momentary lapse, she hisses while ducking the tackle and charges the Pacifista injecting the substance into the downed Tetsuya. When it pulls back, a shudder passes over the misguided Marine. Sitting up, Pet watches his body wrack from laughter and he looks at her with a new fire in his eyes.

She steels herself to kill him, but he's already buried her into rubble after his foot connects with her neck. She splutters at her crushed windpipe and coughs, trying to taste the air. He watches her writhe for a moment, then builds the fire around him, it almost drips off of him.

She regains her breath and pushes herself out of her crater just as he engulfs it in flames. She tumbles to an upright position, slight burn marks marking her arms. She faces him, still looking at him even while redirecting the Pacifista's light beams at other Pacifista with her swords. Two explosions on both of his sides go off and his lip curls in a nasty grin, "Die."

She steps back when he fazes out of her sight, relying on her instincts, she breathes deep slashes to her side, just in time. He kicks the air to avoid the slash and Pet seethes with rage. Not giving him time to right himself, she grabs his collar and punches him across his cheek three times. The fourth punch is stopped by the beam creating a hole through her raises forearm.

Tetsuya coughs blood and eyes her with those unnatural red eyes. She stands, pulling him with her, "You're dead!"

Letting him go only so she can wrap her fingers around his throat and choke him, she watches his expressions as he struggles for breath. She ignores the beams flying at her and positions Tetsuya to take the hits. They power down and Pet tests him.

He meets her eyes, trying to catch her bluff, but as the seconds drag on, he really needs air. She doesn't let up, her face stone cold. She's daring him and he really wants to do the unexpected but not even he can fight that primal instinct. He must survive. He grabs her arms and flips so he kicks her chin. She holds her chin with a smirk, "Look who's human."

He hacks and spits more blood, "Of course I am. You're the one who's a monster."

Pet grins, "I think you embrace your monster side a little more readily than I do."

She cracks her knuckles only to freeze, Tetsuya frowns, "What?"

She materializes in front of him, grabbing him by the collar only to chuck him as high and as long as she can muster while turning towards the sea past the foliage.

Tasting the air, she snarls and begins running to the source. Tetsuya can't move because of the force of the wind as he flies through the air. He looks back at the island wondering why Pet would take such actions only to watch the island be destroyed by the cannon atop Pluton. His breath is stolen from him, _Vegapunk is on that island, isn't he?_

As he sinks toward the sea and gains the ability to overcome the force, he notes the Marine ships sailing towards him and the island. He grimaces, _Vegapunk escaped while he kept Pet busy, huh. _Tetsuya kicks the air and gains altitude, heading towards the Marine ship, passing glances to the smoldering island. _Is she dead?_

With the way the fight was progressing, he can't ever find it in himself to consider Pet neutralized. She's much too malleable. There, see.

He can't help smiling slightly as her dragon form takes to the skies and disappears, she'll be back, and he'll be able to face this resolved Pet and defeat her.

* * *

The sea breeze glides past them as they rush to where Luffy needs them. All the pirates of this particular ship were made aware of the importance of Luffy's desires and needs, and how they must be fulfilled. The tall female sat upon her pet snake, holding her cheeks and daydreaming of her and Luffy's upcoming wedding. Well, he hadn't proposed... yet! He grew into more of the man she always knew he was, and she'd be his Pirate Queen. She decided that this war was where she could prove her devotion by aiding in a cause he believed in.

She hadn't seen that darned sister of his in many years, the woman was a recluse. The raven set her chin on her palm with a dignified and pensive expression. A few of her all female crew promptly swooned.

Hancock's pristine blue eyes hover to the sky as her observation haki alerts her to a terrifyingly large life form. She rises abruptly and squints at the dazzling creature. So, the stories are true. She did awaken as a dragon. Hancock scoffed at the notion, but she couldn't deny her own perfect sight. Her female comrades, by now, also have directed their attention to the descending flier. She seems to be struggling... In all her years, Hancock didn't believe Pet could struggle at anything, she assumed her superior, just what could injure a legendary dragon? The true dragon that Hancock's previous captors tried to mimic in their name.

It was only when the dragon was close upon them and not slowing down that Hancock ordered, "She's going to crash! Get this ship outta the way, I'd rather fish her out of the ocean than have her damage my ship!"

Just as she finished ordering, the was slight poof and it was Pet who landed with a heavy thud on the deck of the Kuja pirates' ship.

Hancock scowled at the torn clothes and charred skin, saw the gashes and holes. What had this woman faced that could injure her so badly? Surely there was nothing so bad as to even touch such a strong figure. There was nothing on her slightly protruding stomach, just her chest and some marks along her back, with of course the appendages bearing bruises and cuts. The medics of the ship rushed forth and Pet's eyes opened. They looked about her and she rolled onto her back. Hancock asks, "What happened, nee-san?"

Pet grimaces at the name, Hancock still thinks she's going to marry her little brother when the woman is practically as old as his older sister, gross. "Bad news, seems they've got some new weapons."

"Weapons did this to you?"

Pet rolls her eyes, "Not just any weapons, _the _weapons as in Ancient weapons. They have Pluton and someone almost like Poseidon."

Hancock frowns, "We have to alert the other forces." She nods at some of her followers and the two move off to find her den den mushi. Pet just watches the bandages being wrapped around her, not even wincing. She has other things to think about. Was Vegapunk really on that island? Or was it a distraction, maybe he was just showing off his new toys? Pet can't think, she's tired and she's worried. It was a draw between her and Tetsuya, as most of their fights usually are, and both weren't even going at full capacity. Dragon fighting is one thing, earth shaking, thunderclaps, and all. There's just something much more destructive when he's using his inherent flames and when she's clawing and howling. Then again, neither have fully recovered from the fight on the island with the previous revolutionary base. She worries that if she leaves him alone for too long, he will master his power.

As she's worrying about all these problems with the war, she forgets the one thing she's supposed to care more about. A shock ripples through her when a medic's anxious voice snaps her back, "Pet-san, what's all this blood?"

Pet looks to the blood trickling down from between her legs with a heavy heart. _N-... No, no, no, no, no..._ Blood is never good, never good at all!

* * *

A couple months later, Pet walks into the meeting room on the Revolutionary's newly settled hideout. The same players from before greet her with scowls and lines of worry from the prolonged war in her absence. Pet's own chiseled features watch them. She leans on the table with her fists, "This war has gone on for too long. Tetsuya has grown stronger, but I have nothing holding me back anymore."

Luffy bangs his fist on the table and growls, "Holding you back? You said you weren't-"

"Strawhat-ya."

Luffy tears his fiery gaze from Pet's eyes on the table to Law's own frowning and hard eyes. "If she had gone to you in time-"

"It wouldn't have mattered. Casualties are a part of war."

Luffy looks away with an expression of pain.

Pet continues as if nothing happened, "In the time I've been gone, there are losing campaigns against some Marine controlled islands and we can't risk sending the trumps from our already controlled territories. All I ask is that there is someone there to occupy the territories when I take them for you. I know where Tetsuya is and I'm going to turn every island on the way there to ash. Consider him as good as dead, and the way to their stronghold paved." Pet looks up from the wood of the table, shifting to the wall, still not meeting anyone's eyes. "Any questions?"

Dragon asks, "Are you sure you're up to it?" All of them noticed the sunken and heavy look in her eyes, the way her skin is so pale whereas before no matter what she always held a look of life with a tan to rival the gods.

Pet straightens up, "It doesn't matter." She turns away and walks out without another word and no one moves to follow her.

Law sighs, "I'm not sure she's up to it anymore."

Luffy growls, "She was never up to it, otherwise she wouldn't have lost Shanks' baby."

Kid returns, "It was her baby too, Strawhat."

Dragon nods, "Regardless, she can't be left alone."

Sabo adds, "All due respect, Dragon-san, I'm not sure anyone can keep up."

Law interjects, "I'll keep up." They all turn to him. He sighs, "Nobody is really volunteering, you're all angry at her to some extent. I don't particularly care, might as well be me who actually tries for her." He's incited some angry looks and rude remarks.

Kid, however, "I'll keep up. It's me and you, Trafalgar." The two supernova nod at each other, giving everyone there a last glance, they both go to catch up with Pet leaving the others in silence.

Luffy remains stoic, he can't bear his own grief and anger at Pet. He trusted her and she let him down. The war is taking too long. They have a large amount of land, but the Navy has had Tetsuya help them while their own ace has been out of commission.

* * *

Meanwhile, Pet is just about to jump off the peer. And she's just about flying through the air when two different hands grab her by her ankles and pull her back. She flips to land back on her feet when they let go. She growls, "The fuck!?" She's close to shifting when Law and Kid's smirks greet her, unfazed by her anger.

Kid laughs, "Calm down, Pet-san. Let us tag along."

Law drawls, "You want a ride?"

Pet seethes, "I want to be left alone."

Kid shrugs, "Too bad. We're going with you."

Pet rubs her face, growling deeply, "Fine, fine."

She shifts into her wolf form and shakes out her pelt. Law frowns at her, her wolf, she looks smaller, her fur looks less sleek and shiny. Kid and Law share a glance before motioning for Pet to get on one of their ships to start their journey.

Pet hops onto Kid's ship, rising so her front paws rest on the rail behind the figurehead of the ship. They set sail and Pet's yellow wolf eyes stare out past the ocean, with wind blowing her fur down. Even as she looks out, images of other faraway places fill her mind. She can't escape them, every time she speaks or does anything the picture of that island is the most prominent thing in her mind.

Pet's ear twitches when Kid comes up, grunting impatiently, "Pet-san, which route do you want to take?"

Pet shifts, leaning on her elbows, "Any way as long as we head to their stronghold."

Kid comes up beside her and leans on it as well, facing her, "Are you alright?" Kid can't shake his concern, it's annoying. He could handle everything else with Pet and never worry about her, but this is new territory, it was her child. The day he received word of Pet's condition after her run-in with Tetsuya and she got torched, he was solemn but when Killer expressed his worry, Kid made sure to scoff at the notion Pet could ever fall past the point of return. She could always make a comeback, yet... She's sad, he can tell, but... He feels as though she's not as sad as she should be. It has been two months, so she's had time to grieve, he just can't shake this feeling.

Pet blinks at the passing sea, "I'm absolutely perfect, Eustass-kun. Don't worry about me right now, let's just end this war."

Kid nods and leaves her to the wind.

* * *

Pet's eyes refocus only when she's pulled by the back of her shirt and Kid's metallic arm slides in front of her to stop the glowing sword slash. He growls in anger and then redirects the slash to the heaven's just as the great Whitebeard once did, the one who stood on par with the old Pirate King. Well, Captain Kid stands on par with the Pirate King of his own era as well.

Pet picks herself up off the ground while Kid yells in fury, "What the fuck was that for!? You almost damaged my ship, you piece of sh-"

Killer rests a hand on his Captain, "Kid, best we not start a fight with him right now."

Kid seethes and looks into the holes of his second in command, sharing his anxiety as they both turn to Pet picking herself up off the deck. She pops her shoulders and turns to their visitor, "I think you owe Eustass-kun an apology for endangering his ship."

The swordsman dips his head at the younger man before turning his piercing gaze back onto Pet. He hops from dinghy onto the ship, looking down at her sunken features. "You didn't answer when I called, figured I'd get your attention."

Pet blinks at him, "It didn't work. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, I heard what happened."

Pet sighs, "You shouldn't get involved, I'm fine."

He frowns at her, "You shouldn't be. You lost the Uchiha and..."

Pet takes on a dangerous glint, "You knew them too. They all welcomed you with open arms. We both have lost things, Mihawk-kun."

Mihawk glares at her, "The child?"

"Gone. They're all gone."

"I heard from Zoro, this is a suicide mission."

Pet shakes her head, "I don't plan on dying, but I don't see myself coming out unscathed."

Mihawk studies her, he believes her. "Just making sure."

Pet nods, biting her inner cheek. She bursts forward, gripping his arm as his yellow hawk eyes stare into her shining blue wolf eyes. She whispers, "Please."

Hawk-eyes gives a slight nod, "Very well." Pet quirks a light smile. She watches his dinghy drifting away with him on it.

He mutters, "Just like old times, correct?"

Pet shrugs and gives him a wink, then he's off.

Kid sighs, "You are a thorn in my side." He stalks off.

Pet leans her chin on her palm, "Indeed. When do we reach the first enemy controlled island?"

Killer steps in as his Captain has already retired inside, "We'll be there within two hours. According to the Revolutionaries, it's one of the islands that are fully allied with the World Government."

Pet smiles, "Good."

Killer startles, "How?"

Pet shrugs, "Just is."

Before they reach the island, Law appears beside her asking, "Have you eaten anything? If we're going to fight, you need to be up to full strength."

Pet sighs, "There will be no fighting."

Law scowls, "What?"

Kid overhead as well and he promptly intrudes on the conversation, "What do you mean there will be no fighting?"

Pet waves her hand, "You two said you would follow me and make sure I don't die or something, right? Well, I'm not going to, so you can stay on the ships, don't even dock. I'd advise you to pass the island by as quickly as you can, and don't get in my way. I won't be responsible for saving your arses. Just continue on the path to the next island and when I finish, I'll be back here in no time at all."

Law asks, "What are you going to do?"

Kid adds, "Just going to fry them all with that dragon fire? Shouldn't there be some kind of limit to that power?"

Pet turns to him, "There is a limit to it, to how much I can use it because it does take a strain, but I don't need that power for this fight. That power is only needed for Ancient Weapons. I'm overkill enough without tapping into it."

Law presses, "What are you going to do?"

Pet taps her lips with her index finger as if telling him to hush, with another wink she informs him it's a surprise.

True enough, it does come as a surprise when they see the island in the distance and Pet steps back from the rail, back to the center of the deck. Kid and Law, who were discussing privately and arguing occasionally, both turn to her. She bursts forward, jumping from the ship and sailing through the air, once she loses altitude she uses Geppou to kick the air and climb higher and higher above the island. Once she reaches the highest and none can make her out any longer, Pet looks out across the skies. It's always so peaceful when she's above the clouds, they hide the carnage and pain beneath. She lets herself fall, turning so she faces the ground. She sees the island beneath her, green and beautiful, natural. As she gets closer, she makes out the villages and towns, the city. People who follow and revere the body that has caused her so much pain, the World Government. It's time to send a message now that nothing is holding her back. It's time they understood that anyone who gets in her way will die.

The World Government will not survive this war. The picture grows continually larger and she recalls the pain she suffered at the hands of the nobles and the Marines. She's still unsure with Tetsuya, but she can't think of him at the moment. Pulling her fist back, she takes a deep breath, the air about her crackles and becomes charged with her energy. She still can do so much with the second stage of leveling up, even Luffy could do this if he had the balls.

Pet closes her eyes, kicking the air with a final surge of power straight to the center of the island. She tears her eyes open with a roar and extends her fist to the ground of the island, connecting. It's not even a moment before the ocean surrounding the beaches of the island, the water rises up as if creating a barrier around the island. Cracks split from Pet's fist as she retains a steady channel of force. These cracks form all across the island to the outer edges. She hears the panic of the people as they cling to poles and others, the ground shakes beneath them. Pet looks around her, sees the towering water that soon crashes back down, but the process isn't finished. Those gapes along the earth tear and keep tearing as it still feels the force. It's still carrying, until her power has gone past the deep end.

Pet smiles to herself, at her work. Houses and trees fall around her from the magnitude but the worst has yet to come. She chuckles darkly and lava or magma spray from the cracks, burning and further breaking the island apart. Pet jumps and watches the bleeding island before the water from the sea encroaches on it. Only then can everyone see, the island is sinking. Pet walks across the air, using Geppou of course, and lands back on the deck of Kid's ship a great distance away. By the time she reaches it, the island is a few meters beneath the sea, with the heat from the lava bubbling the water around it.

Pet walks back to her spot at the front, leaning against the ledge. She informs the dumbfounded audience, "Best you all steer clear of that area... On to the next island then."

Kid rubs the back of his head with a frown, he wants to say something but he feels like he has no right to judge with his history of hurting and killing civilians.

Law, meanwhile, prompts, "There were people on that island, Pet-ya."

Pet taps her nail on the wood, "Keen observation you have there, Law-kun."

Law continues, "Children who couldn't fight."

Pet nods, "Your point? I had a child too. People die in war, even children."

"The Revolutionaries and Luffy only want to fight, not kill, and definitely not fight children."

"I don't follow Luffy-kun and I'm not a Revolutionary. No matter who, if they get in my way, they will be killed. Any one who follows the World Government is corrupt, and I'm not playing nice anymore. I don't have time to be diplomatic."

Law feels as though he's lost her. Kid doesn't have any words. She just leveled a whole island with one hit... Sure they could break it up, but somehow, her force was strong enough to make the entire island be sucked into the sea. None of them have ever dreamed of doing such a thing, wiping an island off the map if it suits them.

Pet turns to face them, "If you don't like what you see, I can find my own way. It'd definitely take less time for me to just fly there by myself, destroying islands as I please. Did you think I would be merciful? The war needs to end and I call those lives honorable sacrifices."

Law shakes his head, "This just doesn't seem like you." He remembers the Pet he first met, she seemed light, with a shadow following her around. Is this the shadow? She was kind and considerate to him, was it because he was a child? Or was it because of something else?

Pet seems to see his train of thought, "When I was a Marine, before I had a high rank, I was used to decimate islands including killing children. I don't like to, but I will... Listen here, pirate boys, right now... You're soldiers, you signed on for a cause, a worthy cause I might add. You follow orders, you give them. Not all will be followed to your liking."

Kid shakes his head, "I understand, but I'm not sure Strawhat will." He's always had the better moral compass of the four of them.

Pet shrugs, "Luffy-kun's not my problem. He wants to be angry at me, I'm happy to give him plenty of reasons." She turns back to view the sea.

* * *

Two days passed before a full fleet joined Kid and Law's ship. Pet raised a brow at the ships pulling up at their sides. Her lips pulled into a smile, ever so slightly, but disappeared as she turned to Kid, "Why are all of them here?"

Kid narrows his gaze at her, the hair at the back of her neck rises at the challenge, "They'll take care of the islands on our way to the Navy's base islands. We can just sit back and relax the whole way there."

Pet clenches her jawline and her features appear wolfish, "I appreciate it, but I'm not one to be idle when I have soldiers on the front line. I lead my warriors into battle."

Kid meets her intense gaze, calmly, inwardly he beats himself up to remind himself about her great losses, "They're not your warriors, you have no responsibility over them. Your sole purpose now, is to take down Tetsuya."

Pet chuckles darkly, "Then why am I wasting time here, when I could just fly there within the day?"

Kid grits, "It wouldn't be smart of you to waste your energy, when you need it all to fight him, the one you have yet to beat."

Pet growls, it was low blow. Last time, when her baby was still with her, he wasn't in a state to fight her seriously, that's why he needed the help from the Pacifista. Their battles have always been much bloodier and gruesome to watch. They've always ended in a draw up until Pet found out about her pregnancy, then her fear made her stumble and hesitate. She didn't want to protest when he arrested her, and her family's eradication didn't help her judgement.

She feels as though she's always fighting him with her hands tied behind her back. She hates it. Pet shakes with rage and frustration. She regards Kid with malice, her voice dripping with venom, "I'll do as I like."

With that, she turns and jumps into the sky. Kid's eyes widen, he didn't think she'd be so set on destruction. He braces as the ship rocks from the rocket firing from his deck. Killer emerges outside asking, "Kid! Were we hit?!"

Kid wipes his face of the sea water, seething, "Pet left."

Law jumps onto his deck just as Kid says it. Law grits his teeth, "Shit."

* * *

They peddled to the mettle to catch up with her, hopefully to stop her from doing things she'd regret. Every island they passed however, was covered in white fire. There was a difference, however, than when she leveled the entire island. As they get closer, they hear screaming, not of pain, of fear. The two Captains pass each other a glance before getting closer to the island, people run out onto the sea across the beach calling to them for aid.

Quite suddenly, the two remember Pet's rampage at her execution. When her fire passed over them, it was like a snowy breeze while the Marines melted around them.

Kid begins laughing hysterically, "She gets to choose who she's going to burn!?"

Law gripes, "Why didn't she use this attack before." He shakes his head and they leave Revolutionary ships to aid those who survived the attack from the legendary creature.

Meanwhile, Pet flaps her wings, with smoke billowing from her nostrils. She wanted to kill them all! She wants to hear all of those hypocrites suffer, watch their children burn! She shakes herself and banks to the left. If it were her choice she would've kill them all, but her fire is special. It only works against those with dripping evil characteristics. She prefers leveling the entire island, but she bets if she does that to multiple, it will create problems for later. She doesn't want to destroy the world, just free up some space.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Here's another chapter, I haven't really had time to write, but since I feel it's getting a tad redundant with Pet and her character flaws, I can promise some conflict resolution next chapter and hopefully the next last few chapters. Review, Follow, Favorite. I have no idea if anybody really cares about this story anymore? Hm, Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	29. The Last Blood Brother

**Author's Note: **There will be more after this chapter, not much more. Sorry I just got really busy, and am only going to get busier these next two months, but I'm almost done, so bear with me. Review, Follow, Favorite please.

* * *

Pet sighs at the rocky landscape, this particular island doesn't have much green. This island is one part of a group, however, more barren than the rest. The perfect place for Pet and Tetsuya's final battle. Her skin is humming in anticipation; she can already taste the flesh and bone, the blood in her mouth. She licks her lips as she continues walking towards the center. She did meet some resistance, but they were easily put down. It's time for the professionals to take the stage.

* * *

Vegapunk wrings his hands to stop them from shaking. He sees Pet walking toward Tetsuya, where he waits with some soldiers to wear her down, at least a little. He knows she has nothing to hold her back now, from what he can tell. He sees her flattened stomach, he sees her expression of ice. She's conformed to her weapon status, truly.

What kind of power will she show in this fight?

This, and this thought alone, is what makes his hands shake. He's shaking from excitement. He wants to test Pet once more. She always exceeds his expectations, but he's set up so many traps for her; he's been preparing ever since he heard of the legend of the White Dragon Empress. The Marines recruited him solely for the purpose of combating her. He never would've thought he'd get to work with her. He did enjoy having another on his level of thinking, even if he was peeved that she surpassed him on every aspect. He envied her. Yet, she's the challenge he's meant to overcome. Now, Pet is practically offering herself up on this final stage. She's begging them to test and challenge her, daring them to make her bleed.

Vegapunk chuckles darkly, he wants a fight on a godly level, so he created the alias Hades and Zeus. A sibling war, the oldest war or conflict in existence. Tetsuya has been a great subject, ever since he was little, although with some of Vegapunk's tweaking, the boy grew into a formidable foe to the Empress' descendant.

Everything's ready.

* * *

Breathe in, breathe out.

There is no time for hesitation, no time for mistake. She's coming and he's waited so long for this moment, the moment to put her down once and for all. Her dead body is the only thing leaving this battlefield, with that uncanny brunette hair, and scars... and stomach filled with a demon child.

He rolls his shoulders at the thought. Her words echo in his mind. He's a demon child as well, isn't he? The enigma that none saw coming, while his mother was the exception. She always knew that there was a piece missing. She lost more than one child, she could feel it.

Tetsuya narrows his fiery eyes at Pet's form on the horizon. He hangs back, despite himself. He would greet her with a punch straight away if he could, but Vegapunk ordered him to allow the other officers to rough her up a bit. Even as the man said it, Tetsuya could feel the smallest of smiles bubbling to the surface. He contained himself though.

Vegapunk knows what he's doing, and the assurance kind of scares him. That other brunette is smart. He can't let that faze him, he has to follow orders even if something deep within him is screaming at him, telling him to back off his older sister. He knows she always holds back, but this time. He's going to use it to his advantage, he's already seen some of what she can do with her devil fruit power, so he knows she could end him without too much trouble.

It's scary to think that. He wants to play with her some more. He doesn't want to kill her, and she has a handicap now. How far along is she? She must be pissed about everything he's done. He does regret that it had to be done, but he has to follow orders. He has to.

Tetsuya shifts into his guarded persona around his enemy. A new feature stops him in his tracks. Suddenly, it's as though his stomach has dropped, like the whole world is tipping. He stifles a jolt from Pet's visage. She stares at him with indifference, and the officers didn't stop to have a conversation, they haven't noticed. Tetsuya grips his arms behind him as Pet stops walking for a moment. She seems to blink once with yellow eyes flashing, then disappears.

Acting fast, Tetsuya draws his katana, defending himself as her twin blades clang against it, sparks flying. Her eyes opened so wide in his face, she frowns at him. He gazes over her shoulder at the fallen officers. They're all dead. Tetsuya and her part a ways; he holds his katana in front of him. Pet offers a sly smirk, "Cat got your tongue, Tetsuya-kun?"

His gaze narrows at her, "What happened to you?" She's never taken that tone with him before. Her cockiness is infuriating him.

Pet shrugs, "What makes you ask that? What's this? Are you showing concern for an enemy?" She laughs dryly, before sheathing her blades, "How quaint."

Tetsuya mimics her in putting away his katana. He has to let it go and finish her. What did he expect? It's not as though the baby would've been allowed to live anyways.

Pet cracks her neck, "Let's get this party started then?"

Tetsuya has to bang the crank inside him to get himself in gear. Pet's going straight to level two, and he has to catch up. She's already kicked him into the sky as he stabilizes himself mentally. As he senses her above him, about to punch him down, he opens his eyes grabbing her fist and chucking her away. They both land deftly on their feet; Pet's cracking her neck with a twitching lip. Tetsuya lets his coat fall off his shoulders, the type Pet used to wear.

Pet crouches with her nails scratching along the dirt, grounding herself. A storm rages inside her, and she's not sure it's a good thing. Launching herself at him, shifting mid leap, he barely makes it to the next blink before there's a large wolf clawing him as he falls at her weight. He grits at the pain, pushing her neck away while her jaws snap at his nose. He feels sweat already sliding down his brow as her claws dig into his flesh. He can't hold her at bay forever, so for an easy fix, he tucks his knees and kicks her off him. In that form, she can take more, so it's no great pain for her to roll away and land on her feet, barreling him down once more. Meanwhile Tetsuya had a moment to himself as her claws were embedded in his skin, and pushing her off tore his flesh. His skin and clothes are almost in tatters.

He rolls out of danger when she pounces again, and wills himself to his feet. He growls, "You're not the only one with a power granted by devils."

She snarls, paws the ground once; her way of communicating, "Bring it."

He takes a deep breath, before fire swirls around him, licking his wounds. He doesn't have healing capabilities like Pet, however. Pet digs her claws into the earth, before pushing onward. She can't let herself stop to think, ears back, baring her fangs, she growls and moves to bite his neck, a kill bite.

He clenches his own teeth, pulling his arm back coated with bristling fire. He punches air as the great wolf disappears from his view, yet long claw marks shred his body. He falls to his knees, bewildered that she had so much power locked away, and can't help smirking as he turns behind him to Pet's human form looking at him with that coldness. The smirk ticks her off.

He chuckles and stands without too much difficulty. "I can see you've been keeping things from me, Pet-chan. I think I've caught up now though."

She shifts her weight, before getting blasted back in a gust of swirling fire. She tumbles to a stop with stinging burns and glares at him. She stands, "Is that all you got?"

Tetsuya grins, before crouching, "What do you say we bring out the ancient weapons?"

Pet bursts out laughing, "I've already shown that I carry the bigger stick."

Tetsuya's smoldering eyes almost glow with power. Pet's sunny eyes become dotted with white specks shining through, as she becomes on guard. The next thing she knows, five slash marks tear through her stomach, but she grabs the arm before he can leave, with her own scaled hands. Her lip curls, "Do I really need to show you why you can't win with this trick?"

Tetsuya meets her gaze, and once more, she doesn't see herself flying through the air, until she is. Something really hard whacked her in the chest. Blood trails after her, before with a roar, her white dragon wings free themselves and she steadies herself, and transforms into a hybrid human dragon. She lands on all fours with scales glittering and eyes shimmering.

Tetsuya's serpent tail flicks before he diverts a moment of concentration to sprouting his own black wings. He smiles, "The doctor gave me an upgrade for this fight." Pet remains silent. It's no surprise that they're betting on him to defeat her, but something still doesn't sit right with her.

Tetsuya relents, "You know, Pet, I would've thought that you'd have a bigger death wish after losing your child? You seem oddly careful with taking hits this time."

Pet trembles with rage, "I have other business I have to attend to after I kill you, though you already know my thoughts on that job."

"You're always the soldier-"

"And you're the science project with barely a passing grade. You have those others scared, but I'm the real deal, not some copy."

Tetsuya rushes to her, pouring all of his power into a great punch. She mimics him, their wings push their speeds to their top levels and they appear to fist bump, if in slow motion. Regular time, their knuckles collide and the ground and skies part at the sheer power. If the environment changing isn't enough to convince one how much power was put into each other's punches, maybe the fact that rips along their punching arms tear up to their shoulders. Gaping wounds like force itself was forged into a knife. The two recoil in pain as fractures and breaks occur within the tissue.

Pet and Tetsuya, almost in perfect symmetry, fall to their backs gripping their respective arms as blood seeps from the rips. Pet growls in pain, but is the first to recover as she rises, although with great effort. Tetsuya lies with his eyes closed, his face etched in pain, taking calming breaths. She lets her arm fall limp, for the time being. "Get up, Tetsuya, or I kill you where you lay."

Tetsuya flips onto his feet, allowing his arm to hang. Sweat glistens on his brow, and he grows furious at Pet's calm countenance. "How-... Don't you feel it?"

Pet blinks at him, completely burying her emotion, she'll have to acknowledge it later, but not right now. "Probably... While you were being pampered and shielded growing up, I was out facing the world and fighting for more lives than just my own. I experienced a lot of pain, that you couldn't fathom, and found a way to deal."

Tetsuya's apparent pain fades, and that glint reenters his eyes. His anger makes his eyes flare, "You think I was pampered? You think I don't know pain?" He turns away as many emotions clash within, none are positive.

In the lapse, as he opens his eyes, Pet's armored fist is about to send him on a long flight, but he steels himself, and fire envelops the arena around him. Pet is caught in the flames. For a moment, fire is the only image, until Pet roars and releases her own inferno. Those orange flames are consumed by her white, before a great beat of her wings, and the arena is cleared. She stands with some of her white scales blackened with char marks and her unprotected skin, raw and weeping.

Tetsuya merely looks down at himself, he has no burns. The fire felt cold, unlike the previous time they fought. Why? Pet notices as well, her hands clench. A usually silent voice within, scolds her for the first time in a long time. He's always held her hand, but now he feels the need to voice his opinions.

_Is your heart not in it, Pet? Still? Are you really going easy?_

Pet considers Daray's questions while looking upon Tetsuya's mangled body. She studies his limp arm, the multiple slash marks and bruises, scrapes even. She chews on her cheek as Tetsuya turns back to her with a look of defiance.

_I don't think I am? I don't know why my fire doesn't always burn the way I want it to._

_If you can't rely on your dragon power, rely on me a bit more. Don't you want revenge? Don't you want him to feel your pain?_

_I'm not done roughing him up yet, I want him on his knees before I finish him with that._

Daray smirks in her mindscape, _just a bit more then, you're almost there._

Meanwhile, Tetsuya is moving to slash her with his talons, only for her to flash him a smirk, and take the fight to the next level, much to his dismay. A great dragon stands before him, and moves to snap him in two, with no hesitation.

Tetsuya jumps back, gritting in frustration. He didn't want to go to that level, and a voice yells at him within his eardrum, "Get her out of that state! The only chance we have for this to work is for her to be semi human!"

He nods, and phases around the battlefield as Pet swings her tail and strikes out with her long neck, taunting him to join her as a dragon. Tetsuya bears with it, trying to think up a way to get her back in her human form. She growls, "Why aren't you transforming too, Tetsuya? Hesitation? Are you scared?" Her pale eyes watch his expression, as he huffs from exhaustion. "You realize you have no chance of beating me in this form?"

Tetsuya trembles in anticipation, he wants to show her what he's got, but he's reluctant to draw the fight on longer if they go past the necessary preparation time. It will be obvious when it's ready.

Pet's calculating brain sparks, her serpent head hovers in front of Tetsuya as she asks, "What have you got up your sleeve?"

"Fine, fight her like that, but beat her! So we can end her on that island!"

Tetsuya's lips pull slightly, as his own dragon form emerges from a pillar of fire. Pet retracts her long neck, _better finish him then._

His proper voice booms from the charcoal dragon, "You think I was scared?" Pet's eyes narrow, it's not the garbled speech she was expecting. He pounces with a beat of his wings and she steps back at the weight and feels his teeth sink into her shoulder, with a roar. She's releasing more fire upon him, this time it actually does damage, but he doesn't falter in breathing fire into her open wound. Beating her wings, she tries to distance herself. She wasn't expecting him to have improved his dragon form so much. She lashes out by gripping his neck in her jaw and pulling his sharp teeth away from her body. Twisting her body, she lands on top of his back, pinning his wings and wrapping her tail around a leg, so he has trouble moving.

His own tail whips her, but she simply chomps harder, almost paralyzing him in pain. She pushes off him, opening her jaws and enveloping him in her fire. He roars from the flames, but turns his own fire on her. She's surprised at how it burns much more effectively. Pet snarls, "What are you planning?"

Tetsuya huffs smoke, exhaust rolling off his tongue. Pet has scarlet liquid dripping down ivory scales; Tetsuya glares at her, "You're going to die on this battlefield, Pet. You're not leaving."

Pet lands, facing him, "I am, you're not."

Tetsuya laughs, "It doesn't matter if I leave or not, as long as you're not alive, they can use the weapons to win the war."

Pet closes her eyes, opening them with resolve, "We could go back and forth with this all day." Pet deforms to her human form, looking up at Tetsuya's bewildered expression. He blinks, before her hefty hybrid wolf form punches his jaw, sending his head, and body soon to follow, a few feet away. Landing steadily, she walks forward, "I don't need ancient power to defeat a dragon." Tetsuya lays dazed, before her clawed hands grip his neck, to his utter dismay, she jumps into the air with him, and slams him back on the ground, positioned so his full weight crushes his wings.

Her human form crouches as he's forced to deform as well. He has to catch his breath after all the exertion, since the dragon cells take a lot of energy to replicate and materialize. Pet walks toward him, her yellow eyes blazing like the sun. Tetsuya is roused from his lapse, "It's ready Tetsuya, Pet is finished."

Pet stops as the sunlight seems to brighten, she looks to the sky as there seems to be a great ball of pulsating light, that is not the sun. Pet doesn't recognize what it is, until she dodges an attempt of Tetsuya at her legs to incapacitate her. Putting the pieces together, Tetsuya breathes, "Uranus." As soon as he says it, Pet is off running off the island with Tetsuya following.

She's jumping to a neighboring island of the chain, not losing any power when Tetsuya tackles her. He holds on as they fly away from the island, just as a beam of light shines down and erupts. The winds push Pet and Tetsuya farther, separating them so they both crash land on the next island.

Pet lies in rubble, heaving blood and looks at the explosion still enveloping the targeted island. Lightning pulses around it before the energy dies down, a scarred land is left, completely flat and barren. Pet's nails dig into her palm, _People get mad at me for destroying islands, and look what my enemy does. I'm tired of being held up to a higher standard._

_You crushed islands that were inhabited._

_Back in the good ole days, I was ordered to do the exact same thing, by guess who... My current enemy._

_Touche._

Pet pops her shoulders, wincing slightly at her many wounds. The battle is nowhere near being finished, she will bring Tetsuya to his knees. Here he comes now. Pet grabs him by the neck as he flies in and slams him to the ground, choking him. "You fools found another? Did you make it? Ah, it doesn't matter, you're done."

Tetsuya builds fire on his fist and swings, knocking Pet to the side. She comes back before he even has time to get up, though. Slamming her foot on his chest, so the wind is knocked from him. Stepping aside and watching him turn on his side, trying to breathe, is enough. He struggles to get up, but Pet kicks his stomach and he flips and lands back on it. Pet waits patiently for him to try to get up, savoring every moment. The image of the flames engulfing her, eating her, never leave her mind.

Extending her arm to the side, she channels her devil fruit power, for a final retribution. Her claws glow brilliantly and her eyes shimmer as blue and red mix, glowing purple. She walks forward as Tetsuya sits back on his legs, finally on his knees. Pet touches his neck before sinking her claws in, not enough to kill, but enough to draw blood. "Empathetic Retribution."

She's going to share pain with him, all the pain he's caused her, and she's doing it out of anger, ergo, the purple eyes. The one backlash with this ability is she gets his pain as well, usually she can handle it, but she wasn't expecting it. Tetsuya howls in agony as she shares her experiences with him, but she is forced to take a knee at his memories, shivering in her own torment.

Pulling away before she really gives him anything, she distances herself, and slides across the ground, clutching her head and breathing. Her worst nightmares all come true, what could have happened to her. She covers her face as unwanted tears slip out, she stifles a sob.

_Get a hold of yourself!_

_It was awful, Daray! So awful!_

_You don't have the luxury of feeling sympathy for the enemy!_

Pet bites on her lip, burying her face in the ground, _He's not just my enemy... He's my little brother._

* * *

_They hurt me, time and time again. They poke me with those needles and sometimes I feel some of myself being taken away, other times I feel burning poison enter my veins. It stings and hurts, and I want to cry, but I also want to eat and drink._

_They tell me if I'm good, I'll get treats._

_I want to die though, but they wouldn't let me if I tried. When will I be free? Can I ever be free? From my studies, I know that most children have mommies and daddies, but when I asked if I had any, they told me I wasn't human. If I'm not human, what am I? They told me I'm not real, that I exist solely for them. I have to be ready for when their enemy turns on them. I have to defeat her. I have to be a good boy, and kill everyone they choose._

_I don't want to. I train so hard that I feel my bones breaking and muscle tearing. They said it's okay, that it's normal for my body to be breakable, but with their help I'll always be put back together. I have to rely on them for my medicine, otherwise I'll die. _

_The only good doctor is Vegapunk. He at least tries to make sure I don't get hurt. I tried asking him to explain pain, asked him to tell me if I really am not a human. He said it's partly true. He's the one who told me about my parents, but he told me they're demons, monsters. I was relieved when he told me that he was making sure I don't share their cursed existence. That made my pain not so bad anymore. _

_As I trained my body and mind, I learned more about my enemy and was given a perfected artificial fruit power. That was when Vegapunk informed me that I was related to my enemy. He told me how special I am that I am the only one with the capacity to overcome her. I am a chosen one, myself. _

_Knowing that made all that pain I was feeling be lifted from my shoulders, but through the years I've developed more. I first laid eyes on her back when she massacred a castle. Garp had received word and was going to pick her up. I got there and saw the whole thing. I was going to jump in and kill her before they got there, but she started to move and screamed. I froze. I was scared. She broke her chains and I could feel her strength pulsing throughout the air. I knew it wasn't just because of the full moon and her devil fruit power. I knew this kind of power stemmed from something legendary, something I don't have. _

_I watched her kill and wreak havoc, and grew ever more afraid to face her. I saw her show mercy to the servants, and I glimpsed the person beneath the monster. I saw her in a rage, stab Garp. I was going to jump in to save him, but her reaction had me frozen once more. Grief and pain lined her voice, and she seemed almost begging forgiveness. This person. My enemy. My... sister._

_She's doesn't seem like a monster or a demon... She seemed like a human as far as I could tell. She doesn't even seem like a bad demon or monster, at least. Why do they want to kill her? What makes her so bad? _

_Thinking this didn't change anything, I still have to kill her and do as I'm told. She'll have to die by my hand anyhow._

* * *

Pet tries to contain her sorrow and when she hears Tetsuya sitting up and looking over to her, does she meet his gaze. He sees the trails of tears and something snaps. "What're you crying about?" He's so vehement that Pet remembers he's trying to kill her.

"That attack is a double edged sword. You feel my pain, I feel yours."

Tetsuya's eye twitches, Pet doesn't even have time to react before his foot makes a direct hit to her face. She flies through the air before scraping the ground and sliding to a stop. She stands almost drunkenly, _I need to get my head back in it. No mercy. No mercy. 'Demon Wolf' Pet. You are the Demon Wolf, Pet!_

Her body twists from his dragon talons clawing through her flesh. She lands on the ground and he crouches by her, "What gave you the right to my pain?" His hand on her back, she shrieks as he sinks them in the dead center of her back. Five little holes, his claws tickle her spine. He starts to drag them across, before she twists, grips his wrist, her other hand going for his throat.

She growls, "I'm a pirate and an Uchiha! I take what I want, when I want, without a care. I'm free!"

Tetsuya is thoroughly enraged, wrenching his wrist from her grip and removing her hold of his throat, He punches her down, again, and again, and again. The pain she feels will never be enough. He'll never be satisfied as his fist connects over and over, until she can lift her head no more. Pulling his hand back and opening it to let the blood slide off and his claws glisten in the sun. He begins to initiate the kill blow, but can only move a fraction before something stops him and Pet disappears from his view.

"Fufufu, seems like a lot of therapy is going on here. Every therapy session needs a mediator, and appointing myself as such, I can't allow you to kill Pet-chan."

Tetsuya turns to the newcomer with a murderous glance, dead meat. His own blazing eyes are reflected back to him in the sunglasses and that devilish smile sets him off even more.

What can Doflamingo say? He has that effect on people.

Pet coughs blood from where she turns on her stomach. One good eye peers at her friend, "D-Doffy, get away. The ancient weapon Uranus is in the sky. It'll destroy everything on the island."

"Those two brats called me and told me what island to come to. I can't let you die Pet-chan." He entered the war for her, he was saved by her. Despite how he's so twisted, she has his back no matter what. Before, she'd always tell him that it was for Rocinante, but somewhere along the line, it stopped seeming like an obligation. Pet simply extends a hand whenever necessary, and Doffy can't help returning the favor. She doesn't sail under his flag, but he considers her part of the family. She doesn't expect him to be human, she's fine if he shows his own demonic colors.

Pet huffs, then her eyes widen, "Doflamingo!"

Tetsuya arose and shifted to his hybrid dragon form. He dealt a finishing blow straight to Doffy's open chest. There was a moment when time stopped and his glasses shattered before he truly felt the awesome power. Every bone in his body was instantly splintered and it was bon voyage for the flamingo. He almost disappeared, but Pet could still track his movement. He's definitely no longer on the island. Now she has to worry about two more idiots who think they can interfere in her fights.

Picking herself up, barely, she shifts into her wolf form as Tetsuya is about to rip Kid's metallic arm from him.

_What were they thinking!? They'll die!_

Tetsuya changes his momentum at the last second as Pet's massive build is about to tear him a new one. Her jaws snap air as he pulls back. Her lighter hybrid form slides to a halt, she is the wall protecting Kid and Law. She growls, "This fight is between me and you, Tetsuya."

Her good eye widens, however, at Tetsuya's smirk. She twitches before she feels Tetsuya kick her knee from beside, a sickening crack is heard as she falls on her broken knee. It's going to bend sideways if she allows herself to fall on it, but talons grip her neck and slam her into the ground. Even Kid and Law are pushed back from the power. She doesn't even have the chance to allow blood to spill from her mouth as her windpipe is crushed. He straightens and raises his leg and slams it down on her hurt leg. Her scream is a wheeze.

Tetsuya laughs maniacally, "I called your bluff, Pet." He rises, eyes finding her favored ones, "Before I finish with you, I'm going to kill them."

Pet wheezes, convulsing slightly as she tries to force herself to move, to speak, anything to defy the outcome. As Tetsuya steps in, ripping Kid's metallic arm as the Captain tried to draw metal to him. Tetsuya grips his other, his talons bruising Kid's pale skin easily, "Will this one be so easy to dismember?"

Pet coughs as she turns over, can't stop the tears leaving her eyes, against her will. Nothing is listening to her. She crawls toward the two as Tetsuya's other hand grips Kid's shoulder, sinking his talons in his flesh. Kid howls at the pain. Law formed his room and sends a slash to their opponent.

Tetsuya dodges, his wings beating as he hovers in the sky, holding Kid by the throat now. Unsheathing his katana from his back, Tetsuya pushes off the air.

Pet can't bear to look away. She knows it's the kill blow. She digs her claws in the ground. _Am I holding back? Is this all I've got? Aren't I some big shot or something? What am I doing? Does knowing his past really change so much? _

_Isn't he your brother? Your little brother? Another Uchiha scorning you that you protect no matter the hate, the blatant wish for your demise? Have you learned nothing since you were a child? Don't you know where this road leads? Is he worth it? Is he worth more of your pain, Pet? Take my hand, Pet. Protect those who stand and fight for you! Those who earn their place in your life! You will not die by his hand! You will not let him hurt anyone else! Kill him!_

_You're right, Daray. First rule of battle: Know your enemy. I recognize him as such now. He's beyond my help, doesn't have or understand human ties. He's a machine, a monster. To defeat him, I have to surpass his monster. I can't pity nor forgive him any longer. _

"Don't you think you've taken enough from me!?"

Tetsuya falters but it doesn't change the fact that his katana has pierced Law's chest. Pet opens her gleaming red eyes, "Enough!"

Pet phases in front of Tetsuya, and her fist collides straight into his face. He bursts away on a crash course. Pet twirls back around to catch Law as he slumps, blood streaming down his chin. He squeezes Pet's slick shoulder. Her clawed hand holding his cheek, she noses him, closing her eyes, his vision fades. She murmurs, "Thank you for having my back. I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge you looking out for me for so long, Law-kun. Both you and Kid. Go to sleep, this isn't the end for you." She presses her lips against his cheek and puts him in a sleep. Removing Tetsuya's katana from his chest, there's a bluish tint to her eyes.

Kid writhes, unable to use his one good arm and his other is gone. He's having a really fucking bad day. Don't fucking mess with him and fuck this! Fuck that! Fuck! All for one bitch to kill her bastard/asshole/faggot brother!

Pet crouches beside him and places her hand on his forehead, he stills as the veins on her arm enlarge. She offers him a sheepish smile as his eyelids droop, "Thank you Eustass-kun. Time for me to step up now, about time, eh?" His curses slur before he quiets completely.

Kid's head falls back as he sleeps. Pet stands to her full height, spreading her arms with her face to the sky, her hair caught by the wind. From her roots, her hair shades to white and her skin pales, her claws extend, glowing. She lets her arms fall to her sides and her multicolored eyes open, it's been a long time since she dipped into her power. Her wounds are temporarily healed, "White Guardian Mode," she whispers. She presses a hand to her chest, over her heart, then draws it out. A wisp of seeming steam forms, a black wolf stands before her, with a tint of steam, as if he's merely an apparition. Pet orders hims calmly, "Take them back to their ships and make sure they get as far away from this island as possible."

Daray's yellow eyes shimmer, he gently flips Kid and Law onto his back and races away just as Tetsuya is about to knock the two from his back. Pet intercepts and drags her moonlight claws across his torso. The dragon scales are like paper to her. The ancient weapon above is starting to glow, but it's not ready just yet.

Tetsuya gets up, only for Pet to slam him back down. He struggles against her foot on his windpipe, no mercy. "I guess I must accept it, right? I can't save you. You haven't asked for my help." She allows him some air and stomps on his chest, holding her foot there, "I really don't want to fight you, to kill you. Since I first met you, something told me that we were connected. It goes against every cell in my body to be doing this to you right now."

Tetsuya spits red, "Enough chatter, you have the upper hand, just kill me already."

"You still don't understand my pain. Or you don't want to? I didn't share it all with you. I didn't share my pain in losing my family, my husband, my little brother... All these years I've protected and aided Luffy, Sabo, Law, and many more, because I consider them family and all this time I neglected my true little brother. I wasn't there when Katashi died. Hitoshi took over after. I have failed as a sister to my real brothers."

Tetsuya grows ever silent as Pet's features quiver with emotion, beneath her facade. Somehow, despite himself, "You didn't know you had a younger sibling."

"I knew my mother would've had to have lost more. She was a weak woman, but losing me wouldn't have been enough for her health to deteriorate as it did. I knew there had to be something else to have pushed her over the edge. I was right. Now I have to kill you, tell me, if she were still around, would you have killed her too? Could you have killed our father?"

Tetsuya grits, "You're asking unreasonable questions, Pet."

Pet smiles and crouches down, brushing his cheek and sharing her memory of their parents. "You're right, but despite our relationship. I've always known you were in pain." She looks at his body below her heel. His dragon scales are peeling slightly, with blood trickling from them, as if he's shedding them. "You're all made up. I guess the only way to help you is to kill you, put you out of your misery, right?"

She shakes slightly, her lip quivering. She crouches, embedding him more into the island, as she brings her knee to his chest. Drawing her fist back, she holds it there for a moment, and punches him across the face. With her hands on either side of his face, she looks at him, "I know you're brainwashed, but... I don't want to give up on you. I don't want to be the reason there are less Uchiha in the world, the reason for my own clan's demise, even though it all can be traced back to me. You can't change, can you?"

She sits back, covering her face. Tetsuya is slightly at a loss. He can see the struggle in her, as the light builds in the sky. "Does it matter, we're both toast anyways?"

Pet turns back to him, "I told you I can't die here. You don't know?" She brushes his cheek sharing more of herself with him. His eyes widen.

She steps off, and he looks to her, "What?!"

She smiles, "I have to finish this quickly."

Tetsuya stands, he shakes from exhaust. He's at his limit. Pet's time is running out as well. She doesn't have stores of power for this fight, she used up a lot already. Pet offers a sympathetic smile, before she deals two blows before Tetsuya lands back into his rocky bed. He lays dazed as he feels Pet's claws pressing to his throat.

_I have to make sure it's his end. I have to. I have to finish it. I-_

She breathes and ducks her head as tears escape. _I don't want to. I really don't want to_. Daray's mind returns to her and his energy is reabsorbed.

_It'll be okay, Pet. Finish it quickly, so you can return. I can't help you this time. You have to be the one to do it. Put him out of his misery._

Pet opens her eyes and meets Tetsuya's red ones, his look of resolve is striking, and more tears flow. They fall onto his face and she begs, "Forgive me." She tears her claws across his throat just as his dragon claws impale her. She grips his wrist and pulls his hand from her. She pushes away and falls to the ground, her hair returning to brown. Her knee broken and deformed; she smiles as she begins to crawl away, her mangled arm not moving in the slightest; she only can use her good arm and leg but even those are riddled with wounds. Scarlet liquid trails and pools around her. "A worthy foe. How unfortunate. I won't get to care for Hitoshi's children. This is the end for me. No more energy." She allows a few more tears to spill, mixing with her sweat and blood. "H-He really couldn't change... in the end... c-could he?"

Her eyes become cloudy but the light of Uranus shines through. She closes her eyes to accept her fate. _I'll die and Luffy will hate me. Neh, Daray? Will people remember me fondly? Will I get a ceremonial burial? Or will they simply forget? D was remembered despite the Void Century, yet not many recall the Uchiha name. None knew of the White Dragon Empress. I'm going to die and it seems like I'm back at square one. I'm going to die alone clinging on to life, like I clung onto that cliff during that storm._

Daray pulls Pet's broken body into his embrace as the light from reality bears down on the island. He murmurs, _You're not alone, baka._


	30. Aftermath

_Enjoy._

* * *

The island hadn't stopped smoldering by the time Doflamingo and company arrive. He had to travel for miles to return. Luckily the flight was long enough for him to recover from the shock of such an overpowering defeat. He feared the worst on the return trip and now he stands, amongst the ash and desolation, with little hope for his friend's survival.

Law and Kid stand at either of his sides, with solemn expressions. They can't dissuade from the facts, the island is flattened and burning except for a few choice hills, nothing could have survived.

Kid huffs and turns away in a rage. He won't be consoled until he gets his hands around Navy scum.

Law stands rigid, before he sighs and also moves to return to his ship. Their collective crew mates told them of the wispy wolf that returned them and had a masculine voice, much different from Pet's smooth feminine. They all watched as the Uranus lit up, grew steadily more powerful and fired upon the small island. They were reassuring themselves about her. The thing about Pet is, one can never quite get rid of her, but minutes drew on to an hour and so on after the blast. Waiting with increasing worry, they decided it was finally safe to search the island for signs of life.

Doflamingo continues waiting, he has nothing to return to with Pet gone. He entered the war to repay her, and now that she's gone, he has no reason to follow orders anymore. The fumes are certainly the only thing prompting him to leave. Just as he turns, there's black smoke in the distance, but this smoke is different. It's not leaving. Doffy tries to discern it, figuring his mind is playing tricks, but the smoke only grows blacker and a form takes to shape. He starts walking toward it, wondering what's causing the phenomenon.

The smoke seems to be having difficulty taking shape, growing weaker and misty, before blackening once more. As Doffy nears it, he pauses when the black wolf is barely made out, before picking up his pace. He nears a hillside and slides down it, with little effort. He hasn't healed completely from Tetsuya's punch, but his string is keeping him mobile. In the small valley, there's a great mass of black, like char and ash around the strange statue. He looks between the cracks and finds space within them. The light from outside, streaks in, but the inside is still heavy with fumes.

Doffy can't make anything out, he starts to turn and walk away, before coming face to face with black wolf, yellow eyes stare deep into his, behind his glasses. The wolf's form dissipates and clouds around Doffy, but the thoughts are conveyed, _"Save her."_

The mist fades, the last of his energy gone. Doflamingo turns back to the cracks and decides it best to give it a better look. He slips inside and covers his mouth at the smell of burned flesh. He steps forward and notes the space within, the strange scales. This can't be.

He moves farther in and brushes against something. It felt fleshy. He crouches, the whole ground is covered in ash. His hands find what he touched, as the sunglasses don't help with the gloom of the strange cave. He finds an arm and grabs it, pulling the entire body into the light. He sees the burns and the features and color beneath their ashen coat. Grief is pumped through Doffy's very heart, and it spills down his dirty cheeks as he takes the woman in his arms. He carries her outside and lays her on the soft, yet warm, ground. His fingers find nothing as he presses them against her throat. Pressing his ear to her chest, he can't distinguish the feel of her strong heart.

He pulls away and merely looks at her broken body, the cuts and blood have been coated with the ash. Her leg and arm are the worst wounds she suffered with her arm's torn flesh and her knee's bulging because of the angles it was forced to make. She had a hard fought battle. Doffy waits some time, mourning, before he leans to her face and presses his lips gently to her brow, his family. He pulls away and moves to pick her body up, so they can at least give her a king's burial, but he looks down at the slightly raised hand and it presses weakly to his arm. Peering at her face, blue dimly shines through before fading. Doffy jolts at the shock of everything, it was all so quick and now his long forgotten heart bursts at the joy and hope. He picks her up to rush her to his ship. Kid and Law have already left.

* * *

Luffy's arm snaps back into place. The weather is dark and gloomy, almost expressing Luffy's own churning and depressing emotions. He takes a moment to look out of the window of the castle, study the dark clouds. The island is growing steadily silent as the fight comes to an end. The Revolutionaries have been able to encroach on the last few islands held by the World Government thanks to a certain brunette.

He walks out to the courtyard and finds the island has surrendered and his Revolutionary allies are taking the Marines into custody. He walks to Sunny with his beautiful Navigator walking to meet him. Nami tells him, "Doflamingo's ship has landed and he wants us to follow him."

Luffy nods, "Okay." Nami smiles and they walk up to the Thousand Sunny. Their other crew mates greet them; they all were summoned back to disembark once more. The Captain of their ship stands on the lion head at the front of the ship, his coat ruffling in the breeze. Since he found out about Pet, he's simply immersed himself in finishing the war. Maybe after they win this war, it won't hurt as much. There's nothing left of her though.

When Doflamingo gave the report, he told them how he was put down for a few hours from a single punch from Tetsuya and he left Pet laying on the ground, broken and bloody. Law and Kid informed them through gritted teeth how they got in the way of their battle, their presence hadn't made a difference. They didn't realize how wrong they were, how they gave Pet the strength to kill her own flesh and blood, of course they don't know that Pet's trepidation was because Tetsuya is Pet's true brother. Kid continued in telling them that after saving Law, she took away his pain and healed him as well before putting him to sleep. He woke up back on his ship with his crew and Law's keeping an eye on them before the island was blown up and nothing but char was left.

There was an uproar when they all convened at base to inform them all of Tetsuya's demise. Luffy recalled his concern in the appearance of his friends and Flamingo. Law wore his shirt with the bloody hole through which Tetsuya pierced him. Kid's metal arm was gone. Flamingo was merely no longer wearing a smile, and seemed a bit beat up.

Luffy felt his own features harden after their account. He looked to his father, who cleared his throat and ventured, "Thank you boys. We won't let Pet's effort go to waste. The Marines have fled their base and are moving to the heart of their land. She cut right through their defenses and we can tame the rest without too much trouble now that Tetsuya is out of the way." After that, they talked battle strategy, despite the heavy air in the room. Then they set out for the last offensive. They wouldn't need any more.

Luffy turns to Doffy standing beside him, "Where are we going?"

"I want to show you something." Doffy sits beside Luffy's standing figure. They wait in silence before Luffy feels the presence of some familiar people.

"What are Torao and Flamehead doing here?"

"I called them." Doffy's smile brightens, "With this, my debt to your sister will be repaid."

Luffy raises a brow as curiosity gleams in his obsidian eyes. He walks to the deck when Zoro and Sanji return and are promptly welcomed back. Luffy and the two share a respective nod before Sanji runs up to make everyone food and see what has become of his haven. Luffy laughs boisterously, after what feels like ages, and the crew gets to talking and joking around per usual. The two other pirates crews find themselves basking in the mirth of the sunny ship. Doffy leans on the rail watching the youngsters from the upper deck of Sunny before he heads back to his own ship. They'll be there soon.

* * *

It's night when the ships finally have land in their sights. Doffy confirms that it's the right island. It's a smaller island and it seemed deserted except for a solitary one story compound with dim lights flickering in a window. Luffy, Kid, and Law join Doffy on his ship, which is leading the three others. Law remarks, "Is this going to take long? We can't be wasting time here or Sabo and Dragon will be angry at us."

Kid shrugs, "We're pirates, they can't expect us to be punctual and proper all the time."

Luffy smiles, "I haven't been on an adventure in a while. Isn't this exciting? I wonder what's there."

None of them notice Doffy's expression of glee, his back is turned to them. He's excited to see their reactions. The ships dock and Doffy steps off just as Mihawk's silhouette appears on the sand. "You brought them?"

Doffy nods and turns to the three standing at the rail with slightly widened eyes to Mihawk's presence. Zoro appears but Mihawk says, "Luffy first, alone."

Luffy frowns and joins him, only to have to follow Mihawk as he enters the house.

Luffy asks, "What am I here to see? Something to do with my sister?"

"You've come at a good time." Hawk-eyes ignores his questions, everything will be answered as he turns a corner and leads him to a closed door. He knocks on it and a voice calls, "One moment."

They wait until, "Okay." He opens the door and turns as Luffy looks around and his eyes settle on...

He jolts in shock, taking a step back, "Wh-What?" He can't believe his eyes. It's been two weeks since he's seen her face, her golden eyes, her elegant brown hair. This woman looks like his sister, she's probably his sister, but he was told his sister was dead.

Indeed, Pet's own visage meet his gaze, expressing gloomy emotions, but her eyes twinkle and shine like the sun. He feels hot tears begin to slip, and his lip shakes. "Pet?"

Pet cocks her head at him, with her own sympathy and sadness evident. "Yes, it's me."

Luffy has instantly taken her in his arms as she reaches out one hand. He buries his face in her shoulder, his masculine form enveloping her. Her quavering yet gentle voice pleads, "I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you. I had to keep it a secret, Luffy. Just for the time. I still can't let anyone else know. I'm so sorry I made you think I was dead. S-so s-sorry." She sobs as she pats and rubs his back. She really doesn't want to give him any more reasons to hate her. She wants to be on good terms with him.

He cries, "I don't care about that! You're alive. I was so mean to you, and cruel. Forgive me." His words touch her heart, ease her inner turmoil.

She finds herself laughing, "Even that's still not your fault silly." She always messes up. She sets the bar so high for herself, when she can't ever hope to get a firm grip of it.

He pulls away as she wipes her tears with her free arm. Her other is in a sling and Luffy notes one of her legs is bandaged as well, still? She smiles, "I kept things from you, and I have a lot more to tell you. Some things you're probably going to be furious with me for keeping them secret."

Luffy holds her hand, giving her a remorseful glance. "I'm so glad you're alive, nee-chan." He's not going to get angry with her again. He has a second chance, he was dying inside thinking that she died feeling scorned by him, her brother.

Pet squeezes his hand at the title, he hasn't referred to her as a sister in a long time. "I need to see the other two and tell them as well."

Mihawk interjects, "Doflamingo should be bringing them in soon."

Luffy turns to Pet, "Has Flamingo known all this time?" Who else knew?

Pet nods, "He found me on the island after Uranus shot it. I asked him to take me here, where I told Mihawk to wait." She smiles at Mihawk as her instincts inform her, "I think someone has finished resting from his feeding." As if on cue, a slight murmuring ensues. "Could you take him Mihawk-kun?" Him? Him, who?

The former Shichibukai nods and moves to a crib Luffy didn't notice before. The swordsman lifts a small baby boy into his arms and holds him. Luffy sees the softening in the usually stoic features of Hawk-eyes. Who is this kid? Whose is it? Luffy's brow furrows at the child and his eyes fall on Pet with the unspoken question.

"That is Tatsuo... He's my son." The gravity of the words make Luffy suck in a breath. A son? The son? Whose son? Her son? Her baby? She lost her baby, didn't she?

Luffy stands and stares at the baby. "What? Your kid died?" He steps toward the child, he has little fuzz and skin of the smoothest texture. All children are precious, but this child, if it is who Luffy thinks, this child is to die for.

Pet shakes her head, coming clean about her deceit, "Hancock helped me out and her doctors stabilized me. I was able to heal and preserve him long enough to have him at a safer date. It took a lot out of me because my fights with Tetsuya did wear me out already, but it would've been too risky to give birth so premature. So I waited and Hancock dropped me off here where I could wait and finally have him before returning to you guys." She had time to think of the future and grieve over the past sufficiently, although her thoughts may have eaten away at her.

Luffy seems speechless, "This... This is Shanks' and your baby?" Luffy reaches out and his fingers brush against the soft baby skin. The child looks at him with almost red fiery eyes. The intensity of them awe Luffy, and an image of a great and respected man forms in his mind.

Pet was surprised when they opened and she saw the familiar red eyes, must be in the genes after all. Just as Luffy takes the child into his arms, they're joined by three other pirate Captains. Luffy allows the two their moment with his older sister, he just focuses on her child, her's and Shanks' child, perfection.

Law and Kid start at Pet before bursting with apparent joy at the revelation. She holds Law's hand and Kid grins while sitting on the bed. The two give their thanks for saving them. Kid is boisterous and loud in his overflowing emotion, laughing with almost maniac glee, while Law is calm with a full smile to show his mirth at having one of his childhood saviors back in the land of the living.

Pet waves their appreciation off, "It's because you guys were there that I was able to defeat Tetsuya. What he did to you three..." Law feels her grip his hand a little tighter, "It made me really see him... for the first time." The look in her eyes tells them she really had her doubts and frustrations about killing an obvious enemy. What could make the most logical person hesitate to act on their reason?

Law prompts, "Why were you so hesitant to kill him?"

Doflamingo scolds Pet, staring her down through his glasses, "You better not feel regret about what you did." Doffy had to deal with Pet's fits as she was healing on his ship.

Pet clears her throat, closing her eyes, before she admits to the Supernova Captains, "Tetsuya is my younger brother... by blood."

Kid mutters under his breath, "Shit." They literally pushed her to kill her own brother? Kid has never been a guilty type, but he feels like a dick.

Law nods, "Makes sense." As far as Law is concerned, he's glad he knows the reason as to Pet's hesitation. Now they can move past it, and he has all the more respect for her, since he recalls her overcoming a powerful drug just to stop herself from killing him. It must've taken everything she had to metaphorically pull the trigger.

Luffy hands the baby to Doffy as he asks, "You killed your little brother? For us?" Luffy has never felt the need to ask himself if he could kill his siblings, but he's already decided he could never accomplish what Pet has.

The gravity of her actions weighs heavily on their minds, like she's exceeded their expectations once again. Will they ever be able to catch up to this legendary woman?

Doffy merely shakes his head, not understanding their awe, "What are you all so choked up about? I killed my brother."

He smirks at their hard glances. They didn't think the comment was funny... At all.

Pet nods and there's a flash of emotional pain, "I killed him. He saved me after I killed him." She covers her face as fresh tears fall.

The three supernovas share looks, before Doffy steps forward, knowing what she's referring to, "He would've killed you Pet. He took a chance. There's no possible way he would've known his effort would work. It was all last second, and his brain wasn't working properly."

Pet breathes, "I know, but it means something Doffy. If it weren't-" She's cut off as she coughs into her palm and blood drips from her hand.

They all fret over her, and Mihawk orders them out while Doffy reassures, "She'll be fine, just still healing." He leaves the babe in his crib.

They all go out while Mihawk remains and Pet rests. Law voices, "Why isn't she healed? Hasn't it been almost two weeks?"

Doffy chuckles, the pessimistic realist, "She's staying in a room with no windows, because she's hiding. Do you know how many people would jump at the chance to finish her off now that she's not needed?"

Luffy growls, "What are you talking about? Her enemy is the World Government." Even then, there's a seed of doubt to the merit of his words.

Doffy looks to him, challenging, "If it were just the World Government then she could have stayed with her husband at all times. Pet was a renowned Navy Admiral at one point, boys. She was a former agent of the Cipher Pol divisions, used to massacre islands and end kingdoms. Pet has enemies everywhere. Speak of her fellow devils." Luffy turns with a grimace to some faces he hasn't seen in a long while.

A tall and muscular man with a top hat and a pigeon on his shoulder stands smiling at them. His hair curls out around him and he has his hands in his pockets. His comrades back him up. Law hums, "Rob Lucci."

Kid thrusts his chin forward, "You looking for a fight?" Kid could blow off some steam.

Doffy speaks familiarly with the Leopard man, "Any sign of trouble?" The familiarity catches them off guard. Lucci has a place here?

Lucci offers a dangerous smile, "Unfortunately no. We will be having company soon, however, since some Marine ships followed Strawhat, the Surgeon, and Captain." The idea of enemies brings a dark pleasure to the Leopard man's face.

The door to the house opens before more questions can be exchanged and Mihawk appears, helping Pet out on her broken leg. She sits against the wall to soak up the moonlight. Once her breathing is regular, she smiles at Lucci and the others, tiredly, "Thanks again guys for coming to help me out." They gave up on their World Government, opting to be neutral, but attack whatever opposition to their own lifestyle.

Kalifa steps forward, "We owe you Pet. I'll go take care of Tatsuo." Pet nods. Kalifa has a soft spot for children, but she's an agent to the core.

Kaku sits beside her, drawing up a long leg, "Still nothing, are you sure he's looking for you?" Who's he?

She affirms, "He knows me, he knows I'm still alive and now's his time to act."

Law narrows his gaze at her, "You know your enemy?"

Pet's eyes turn skyward, admiring the stars, "He's the last real threat. He could make life really difficult if he so chooses. He's the reason my baby brother was turned into a monster."

Lucci grins, "Vegapunk, the mad scientist."

Jabra scowls, "That guy gave me the creeps." Call it his wolf instinct.

Kid seeks to clarify, "You know Vegapunk personally?"

Pet straightens, "I thought he was my friend when I was a Marine. He was just using me, though, for science."

Doflamingo smirks, "That was naive of you Pet. Of course he was using you."

Law turns a dangerous glare on Doffy. Kid agreed with Doffy, however, inclining his head ever so slightly. Pet's eyes glow yellow as she looks at the quarter moon. Her eyes pass over the faces of her friends and her family. Her heart aches, she smiles at them. There's silence because of the pain in Pet's gaze.

Pet nods to herself, "It was foolish of me, but he was a friend nonetheless. I only saw him following orders, as I did, not consult and make the orders with my bosses. He tricked me..." Pet's smile falters, "He was the only person I thought I could trust in the Navy."

Doflamingo steps back, he recognizes his mistake in pointing out Pet's flaw. Luffy crouches by Pet, consoling her, "We know Pet." He holds her hand.

Pet clears her throat, squeezing his hand and offering a genuine smile, "Thanks for coming guys. I'd still be inside if I weren't confident in all your abilities."

Lucci and his crew share looks, "Bring the ship around. Pet, we should start planning to receive our visitors."

Killer appears behind Kid, Kid faces him as his first-mate addresses him, "Kid, the Marines are sending a fleet here. The Revolutionaries have almost finished with the last two islands, but the remaining ships are focusing here."

Luffy and the rest scowl while Pet stands, keeping her broken leg straight and being careful about her arm. Pet wraps her good arm around Mihawk's neck and heads back inside. Luffy calls as Pet's in the doorway, "What do you want to do Pet?"

Pet responds, "I already called your brother and father. They're sending us back up. Some of the ships Mister Kitten over there and his crew saw are Revolutionary."

She goes inside, leaving them to discuss. After a few minutes of silence, Luffy asserts, "We're going to protect this island. Determine where the Navy ships are coming from, then we'll go out to meet them. None of them are going to come here. Allow the Revolutionary ships through." They all share collective nods of agreement. Luffy grins and enters the house. Kid and Law go to inform their crews what they'll be doing. Lucci and his group head to meet up with the rest. Kaku asks, "Should we wait for Kalifa?"

Lucci shakes his head, "She's staying to protect Pet and Tatsuo. We're coming back."

* * *

Luffy walks into Pet's soft breathing in the back room. Mihawk leans on the wall beside the door frame, with crossed arms. Luffy stops beside him, whispering, "Why has it taken so long for her to heal? Has she not gone out?"

Mihawk's hawk eyes pierce Luffy's, "No, she hasn't gone out. It's hard to move her with her leg and arm. Her leg was broken sideways by Tetsuya and the bone in her arm was practically in splinters. She's only just able to wear it in a sling. She's been mostly in and out of consciousness."

"Why are Lucci and the former members of CP9 here? She called them for help?"

"She called them to come and protect Tatsuo, they were here when I got here, probably been watching over him since she had him. Sabo and Dragon were informed after she asked Doflamingo to tell them. They were sworn to secrecy however."

"They've known? Why did she trust Flamingo above all of us to protect her?"

Mihawk sighs and faces Luffy, his expression becoming very grave, "I came here for Tatsuo because she needed a contingency if she didn't survive the fight with Tetsuya. Don't take it personally Luffy-kun, Doflamingo found her among the ash of the island. It was extremely lucky that she survived at all. From what I was told, Doflamingo almost didn't find her there."

The meaning is conveyed and Luffy recognizes that her survival, against the odds, is a miracle. Luffy turns to look at his older sister. Kalifa sits in a chair beside the crib with Tatsuo on her chest. The babe sleeps peacefully.

After a few minutes, Pet's eyes open to Luffy's hand in her own. He smiles at her, "You're a mom now."

Pet returns the smile, "I am..."

"What are you going to do after the war?"

Pet sucks in a breath, "I might have to go into hiding..." She's trying to be as open and honest with Luffy as possible. She doesn't want him to uninformed and hurt by her decisions later.

"What do you mean? Live on the run still?"

Pet shakes her head, "I need to get away from this life. I told you before, Luffy, I would keep my child away from this fighting. My enemies will not leave me alone. It's better if Pet just disappears."

Luffy's features show concern and denial, "No, nee-chan, you can live peaceably. You don't have to hide. You said that Vegapunk is the last real threat, right? We just have to take care of him and it'll all be fine."

Pet threads her fingers through his and draws his hand to her lips, she presses her lips to his darker skin. A sympathetic smile flickers, "We'll see, but if I disappear, I want you to know why."

Luffy's other hand cradles hers, "It won't come to that."

Pet admires his strong will, always has. She always finds her spirits lifted by him. She's able to slip back to sleep and dream pleasantly thanks to his warmth. He has a piece of Shanks' will inside him, just as she and Tatsuo do.

* * *

With Pet sound asleep, Luffy arises from her bedside and returns outside. The fresh air is a comfort after the stress of the baby and Pet's weakened state. He finds his crew waiting for him with set expressions. He grins at their seriousness, "Seems we have one more fight."

Zoro's thumb slides one of his katana partway out of its sheath; it glints. Luffy looks each of them in the face. They've all grown into powerful people, the strongest crew on all the seas and most diverse. Robin informs him, "The Revolutionaries are almost docked. A messenger will be with us shortly."

Sanji lights a cigarette and blows smoke as he notes, "The Marines are waiting for us to make a move it seems."

Luffy's brow furrows, "Let's be ready for anything. After this..." He pauses with grave importance, "... We feast!" He pumps his arm into the air with a boisterous laugh and the others join in.

Chopper runs up to him, "Should I check on Pet-san?"

Luffy nods. The rest go back to the ship to prepare, then wait. Chopper rejoins them later with an expression of worry. Nami questions, "Chopper? What's the matter?"

Chopper wipes a stray tear with a hoof, "Pet-san is really messed up. I've never seen wounds so bad before."

Robin offers him a dark smile, "Don't worry, Pet-san's survived the worst tortures imaginable. I'm sure she's had wounds like this before we knew her."

There's a collective shiver down the rest of the crew's spine.

Franky reports, "Ow! The Marines are engaging the Revolutionaries. We should super hurry up to end this."

Brooke brandishes the blade within his cane, "Yohoho, I can feel my bones rattling in anticipation, yohoho."

Luffy smirks, "Let's head out. The old CP9 are here to guard nee-chan, and a Revolutionary ship will hang back."

* * *

The sun is just on the horizon when the battle begins. Cannons and gunfire resound across the island from the sea surrounding it. Pet sleeps deeply within the room on the compound. Kalifa and the rest are outside, ready to divert any stray cannonballs from the house. Tatsuo also rests in his crib quite peacefully. The room is almost pitch black, if not for the light coming from the hallway. It's very dim throughout the house, though.

One of the Revolutionaries enters, slipping inside as quietly as possible. She waits for Pet to move, but the woman never stirs. This Revolutionary has short ebony hair, and eyes of blue steel. She stares at the sleeping form of Pet on the bed, before her glacial eyes make out the crib. She steps closer to it, on light feet, and reveals a knife from within her cloak. She continues walking slowly to Pet's child, before she whispers, "You murdered my baby girl on one of those islands you destroyed. It's only fair..."

She stands over the crib, and with shaking hands, raises her knife. She looks over to Pet; the brunette hasn't moved. Her knife penetrates the lump in the crib, but there was no sound. She rips her knife out and finds a small pillow under the blanket. Panic rises, and her instincts go on the red alert.

She faces Pet's bed slowly to find the woman sitting there, with Tatsuo calmly asleep in one arm. Pet shrugs at her with a fanged smile and glowing eyes, "I suppose I should apologize for killing your child." Pet stands with no visible difficulty and sets Tatsuo on her bed. She faces the mother and her eyes shift red, "Haven't you ever heard two wrongs don't make a right?" Pet snarls, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to fix my mistake by reuniting you with your daughter, and I'll even do it in front of my son." A great black wolf stands before the trembling woman, she barely releases a scream of fear before Pet's jaws have got her neck within them.

The enemy is put down in a pool of blood, before two of the former CP9 agents burst inside and find Pet's dripping bloody mouth, and the dead woman on the floor. Kalifa and Kaku stare in shock as Pet deforms and lies on the wooden floor. She wheezes and coughs out some of her own blood. Her bones ache and involuntary tears slip onto the floor. The two get over their surprise and move to help her.

Kalifa asks, "What happened?"

Pet is helped up by Kaku, she murmurs, "Enemy."

Kalifa looks into Tatsuo's crib and sees the tear the knife made. The former agents share a look. This is why Pet wanted to go into hiding. Pet lies down and holds Tatsuo with her good arm. She stares at him before touching her nose to his fuzz, "What will you do when you find out how much of a killer your mommy is?"

Pet opens her eyes to Kaku's extended arm. She takes the cloth from his hand and wipes the blood off her mouth and chin.

Kaku and Kalifa brace against the walls of the house as a terrifying boom is heard. The blast vibrates the entire island. Kaku shouts, "What was that?!"

Tatsuo awakens and starts crying. Pet merely pulls him closer to her body, shushing him while her features strain from added nerves. "We have to leave," she mutters weakly, "it's not safe here anymore."

Kalifa sits beside her, "What do you mean?"

"The reason the Marines waited to begin their attack... they were waiting for the Ancient Weapons to be brought here."

Kaku supposes, "Seems fitting." Pet allows Kalifa to take Tatsuo and Kaku moves to help her up.

Pet tells the woman, "Go on ahead." She hooks an arm around Kaku's neck and he tries to support her without hurting her, but the effort and pain is clear. Already she stands on a shaking leg, trying to be wary of her ruined knee and wrecked arm.

* * *

Meanwhile, outside the compound, the seas churn with the cannons firing. Whole sections of the the fleet are wiped out by each of Pet's favorite pirate crews. They watched in horror as Sunny narrowly missed the first shot by the Ancient ship, Pluton. Franky was the one to call it by its name as the others had yet to face it in battle. A downside to the ship is it takes forever to get places because of its strange weight while still retaining some buoyancy.

Luffy orders his trusty first-mate, "Go tell Lucci and the others to get off the island, and get away from it! Now!"

A glint passes over Zoro's good eye as he nods, and moves to leave the ship. As he jumps in the air, snipers take aim at their chance. Usopp passes Zoro a glance; he removes the ones on one side while Zoro slashes the bullets out of the air on the other side. As Zoro flies through the air, he deals major blows with his long range attacks before landing slightly on the beach, with salty water at his boots. He runs up calling, "We need to get off the island! Pluton is here and you guys are too easy a target if this ship can sink an entire island with its attack!"

Lucci smirks, "We're leaving."

Kalifa steps out of the house with Tatsuo in her arms, the baby whines loudly. Zoro merely moves onto their ship and defends it from oncoming fire. Marines dock on one side and charge the former agents as well as the Revolutionaries. Kaku steps out before Pet, sweat glistens on her brow and blood trails from her lips. She heaves with exhaust, but her eyes blaze with determination.

There comes that moment, when everything stills, and Pet has yet to take another breath, where she sees everything. She looks about her as if everything is happening in slow motion. Kaku tries to get her to focus, urging her onward. She can't help staring at the carnage and the destruction. Lucci wears a sadistic grin as he kills Marines with ease. Zoro redirects cannons with swipes of his blades, sending air to push them back, instead of slice them. The rest all fight in a frenzy, the frenzy caused by war. A rush to get it over with so everyone can go home.

Kaku's curses draw her attention as Pluton fires and misses the pirate ships, but the blast is heading straight for the ship she's being helped to, the ship that Tatsuo is on. Feeling false strength pore through her, she pushes off the sand with terrifying force, positioning herself to take the blast within milliseconds. It takes a few more milliseconds to transform.

All her comrades and enemies witness the great marble dragon roaring as Pluton's blast hits her chest. She stands on her hind legs with her scales cracked and bleeding. Blood spills from her dragon mouth, and she falls to her front legs, sea water beneath her and around her. She feels the pull of it, but jumps up only to fall back down with a splash. Too weak.

She can't catch her breath, but the light in the sky only grows brighter. She looks up and hears the faintest, but most distinct voice, "Can you solve all these problems, Pet-chan? Can't trust your friends to pick up the slack?"

She stands with her vision fuzzy and her head pounding, "This isn't their fight." More blood seems to spew from her mouth and chest, "The war is already won, this is me and you." With that, she takes flight, barely managing to ignore the pain beating in her heart, her body, her mind, her very soul. She glides lowly toward the legendary ship, before landing on it. She takes a wheezy breath before summoning her leftover might. She has no more power to draw on, she's running on empty.

Still, against every fiber of her being, she beats her powerful wings, gripping Pluton tight, she pulls it from the sea's embrace. Her blood coats the ship and she takes it drunkenly as Uranus powers up in the sky. She struggles midair for a moment, since she hasn't advanced very far, thinking.

Growling with more of her life liquid spilling through her teeth, she tries to summon her strength. She blacks out as she spins and chucks Pluton just as Uranus' beam bears down on the island with Tatsuo still so close to it. The great dragon falters but a moment, and her tail is the first to touch the sea before she picks herself back up with another beat of her mighty wings.

Pluton intercepts the beam, the light is blinding until the explosion knocks everything back. Pluton turns to shrapnel and Pet positions herself over Lucci's ship, taking on more damage. Uranus will take more time to power up, and Pluton is finished, blown to bits and lodged into Pet's scales. Before she can rest, she has her pale blue eyes on the skies. Flying up, she can only see the dot in the sky, the strange contraption, Uranus, everything around it is black or faded to her corpse eyes.

Her friends watch her movements, and Luffy calls, "Please Pet! Just rest!" His fury is somewhat rekindled, but his worry overpowers it. He's just a big mess at this point.

They have to shield their eyes when Uranus' explosion likens to a nuclear bomb being set off. The entire fleet waits in silence for some sign of the dragon after the winds from the explosion die down. Luffy knows she's alive. He's just about to jump from Sunny when within his mind he hears, _"Tatsuo..."_

He stops with his foot on the rail, he changes his course and orders, "Sanji."

Sanji takes off, using sky walk to get to Pet's falling body. Those pesky snipers are taking aim, but Luffy growls with unimpeded anger and hatred, "Stop hurting her!" There's a shockwave of Conqueror's Haki sent their way, and every one of them is either knocked unconscious by the power or seriously dazed and faint. Luffy jumps to Lucci's ship, a great distance away still near the beach of the island. He sticks the landing with ease and stands beside Lucci ready to face off against the last remaining Marine ships. They count ten while on their side is seven.

Sanji runs to catch Pet midair. She faces the water as she falls, like she's skydiving and still waiting for her parachute to expand. Blood trails behind her, and her clothes are tatters. He hooks an arm under her abdomen and tries to be gentle in slowing her descent. More blood spills from her mouth and wounds, however, so his effort was for naught. He tries to position her bridal style, but the slightest bit of movement makes her lose even more of those precious scarlet drops. He walks back to Sunny with her hanging. Trying to set her down gently, she twitches with a groan.

Chopper rushes to her to begin treatment, but he doesn't know where to start. She has her previous wounds and all these new ones with more cuts and her chest area all burned and bleeding. Her wrecked arm is slightly bloody from some of those wounds being reopened, and her bones are probably broken, again. It seems every breath she takes is a struggle.

Sunny rocks from the Marines restarting their assault. Luffy returns with Tatsuo held in one arm. He hands the baby to Nami.

"Time to end this."

Pet's cry sets everyone on edge and Chopper has tears slipping from his eyes. He tried to assess the damage and it hurt her. She moans and groans, all the while, it's like her breath has quickened, but that only hurts her more. Seems neither of them can win.

Luffy and his fellows destroy five more ships, four stay to fight, one of them retreats.

"This isn't over Pet-chan. You will die. I'll find you."

Without the slightest provocation on Sunny, Pet convulses with an earsplitting scream.

* * *

The pain has not subsided when Pet wakes for a brief moment. She's in Law's ship in his infirmary. Law stands over her with a look of tired relief. She whispers through a daze caused by her torment, "Law? ... Tatsuo?"

Law musters a smile, "He's fine. The war is over. We're going to the Revolutionary base to see Azara and Roan."

Pet grimaces, growling slightly at a wave of discomfort. Her lids flutter and she sinks back into a pain induced coma while murmuring, "Keep- secret."

Law frowns as she definitely leaves the conscious world, but her face retains a look of agony. She was crying and screaming hysterically when they moved her to Law's ship. Everyone thought she was going to die just from the jostling on the short trip. All the while, she only lost gallons more of blood. Law's not sure if he's ever had as traumatic an experience as that.

* * *

They dock beside Luffy's and Kid's ships on the Revolutionary's temporary island. Sabo hops aboard Law's ship located between the two taller. Sabo leans against the rail waiting for Luffy and Kid to join them. Luffy is the first to speak, "Are we going to move Pet inside?"

Sabo crosses his arms with a serious air, "We can't."

Kid snorts, "Why not? She needs some good ole rest in a bed that doesn't rock."

Sabo sighs, "You guys aren't getting it. She said under no circumstances is her living to be revealed. She has many enemies. Keep her on Law's ship, but don't tell anyone about her being there. We've already sent out the news that she died fighting Tetsuya weeks prior and everyone who saw the dragon has been made to forget thanks to one of our Devil fruit users."

Luffy grits, feeling indignation surge, "She shares her meat, she's a hero, not some villain meant to hide in shame." She deserves to be treated like a hero and savior for once.

Sabo stands taller, "Not everyone shares your opinion, Luffy."

Law confirms, "Sabo's right. She woke up for a couple minutes and one of the things she said was to keep some secret. I think she meant her life. This is what she wants."

Luffy takes a deep breath, "She deserves so much more."

Kid grips his shoulder, "She'll be able to live in peace now that she's dead." Sounds ironic.

Sabo affirms, "She'll be better off this way. The new People's Government is going to hold a ceremony to honor her sacrifice nonetheless. Roan and Azara are being guided here. They don't know she's still alive and it might be best they don't see her yet. I'm leaving them to you guys for when Pet wakes up. I have to go, things are about to get really busy." The blonde offers a sunny grin, giving Luffy a hug, he heads off.

* * *

Law's ship remains docked on the island for a few weeks before the pirates all leave. Azara and Roan want to attend Pet's grand ceremony at the new government's headquarters. They're also going to be honoring all the warriors who fought and celebrate a new era of peace.

A banquet is going to be held, and Luffy, along with the other head pirates are going to be guests of honor, although the new government still won't condone lawless behavior after the party. Needless to say, if Kid hurts any more civilians, he'll be reacquainting himself with the wanted list.

Roan has developed much more since the last Pet saw him. He can walk around and make more coherent words. She thinks he was traumatized from the treatment the two received when in Marine custody, so he only knew how to cry and never really tried to speak. Uchiha children are usually much farther along in their learning at Roan's age, they'd already know most of the ABC's and counting.

Somehow, the pirate crews managed to keep Pet a secret. She slumbers hooked up to all types of machines, occasionally opening her eyes and looking around with a dead stare, before slipping back. Luffy's convinced she's checking up on Tatsuo and making sure he's near and safe.

They don't know that Pet will sometimes awaken and lay thinking, with her eyes closed and no sign of consciousness. She wonders if Vegapunk really did promise to hunt her down, or if it was a nightmare. She doesn't want to leave Tatsuo and her brother's children again. Then how is she supposed to live peacefully, especially when there's argument that since her body was never recovered that she's still alive somewhere? That debate has yet to die down and people are scouring the ashen island Doffy found her on.

She can't fight anymore... Not that she just doesn't want to, but also... She strains to examine her bandaged arm and her knee. If given the time, the arm should heal to almost perfection, but her knee... That's been bent and twisted so many ways, she's not sure it can mend properly. It'd be too painful to attempt to take on Vegapunk as she is. Maybe, maybe if-

Pet shuts her eyes, her breath clouds the breathing mask strapped to her face. All this thinking is hurting her too. Life is such a pain these days. Well, life has always been a pain for her, except that it's only gotten more painful these days.

Opening her eyes and staring with a solemn expression at the ceiling, she decides.

Her good hand reaches up and she pulls the mask from her face, hoarsely, "Where can a gal get something to eat on this sub? Yoo hoo!"

The mask snaps back in place and her head falls back down on the pillow, she tries to regain her breath. Her reserve of energy has really depleted from all this staying in bed, all she asks is a room with a view of the night sky.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **Won't be long now, I see possibly up to one to three more chapters, but am leaning toward less chapters on how I have always envisioned Pet's end. Let me know how you guys like it, please. Thanks for all the attention from those who do Review, Follow, and Favorite. Ya'll few of ya are the only ones still keeping me posting. Thank ya kindly. Hope ya'll enjoyed ;D


	31. A Skip to the Quiet Life

_Enjoy._

* * *

Considering Pet's extensive injuries, she remained in bed for most of the festival. Luffy couldn't leave with all the eyes watching him, luckily for him, Robin and Zoro, the more aloof characters of the Strawhat Crew, took his sister some booze and an array of food. They entered the cold room, filled with the subtle beeps of machines. Pet was sitting up, with her hands folded in her lap. She turns to them with a small smile.

Zoro takes up a chair with a grin. Robin also finds a seat as she explains, "Luffy wanted to be here to tell you all about everything, but we're not sure if they'll ever let him go at this rate, fufu."

Zoro adds and waves a big bottle, "I brought you some sake. Some of the best stuff."

Pet smirks and takes a cup-full while Robin hands her some food. They all have a little party of their own. Pet smiles after a time and sinks deeper into the bed, "Luffy doesn't need to worry about me. I'm not up to full but I can hear a lot of what's being said at the banquet."

Robin inquires, "Did you hear the speeches at the ceremony for honoring all the fallen?"

Pet's lips spread into a wide grin as she beams, "Yeah, I did."

Zoro laughs and Robin chuckles at the obvious. It seems Pet was extremely flattered by all everyone had to say.

* * *

Pet's picture led the group, carried by Luffy with Law on one side and Kid on the other. Her niece and nephew also at Luffy's sides. Behind them, families of KIAs and MIAs carried portraits of their loved ones. Of course, Luffy and his fellows lost people from their vast crews as well. Their underlings carried varying portraits of those without a family, their crew was their family.

They all marched in silence with reporters swarming and people paying homage along the way. The streets on either side were crowded to the brim with people from all across the world. Azara held Law's hand while Luffy implores Kid to pick up Roan. Their navigator watched from the shadows with Tatsuo in her care. Luffy would occasionally pass her a glance through the crowd. She'd smile at him and wink before disappearing with the agility of a cat burglar. Eventually, the group made its way to the grand plaza, a truly beautiful place, decorated and almost shining with hope. Luffy left his friends at the base of a raised platform and made his way up where he could greet some of the higher ups from the former Revolutionary Army. He flashed his trademark grin to the crowd as he faced the podium and spoke into the microphone, adopting a more serious persona. This was his time to reflect on his sister.

"Nee-chan, Pet saved us more times than I can count. I've lost track of all the times I've come close to losing my life only to have her step in and save the day. She didn't want to fight Tetsuya, with all her heart, none of it was in it. Pet was tired and weary from fighting, but she put up her fists one last time... For all of us, so we could give future generations a chance to be happy and live freely, without an unjust government. She took on Tetsuya and beat him up to give the children and the grandchildren a chance to have a real childhood. Let me tell you something about Pet, she was born into this world and had to fight her whole life. She grew up much too quickly and would have never wished a similar fate on anyone. She kept me safe as I grew up, she kept many other islands safe in her position as an Admiral. She is a hero, not just some war hero, a hero in all aspects of her life. Without her, we would not have been able to defeat Tetsuya. And though I am saddened by her sacrifice, I am also grateful and I know I am not alone when I say that I love my nee-chan. She was a badass woman who shared her meat.

"I'm sure Pet would've preferred her sacrifice to be the only one necessary in this war, but I want to recognize the men and women who fought on the side of freedom and gave their lives. To commemorate the war effort and the people we lost, we present this awesome statue."

Luffy stepped aside with an arm raised as the mass behind them was unveiled. They saw an absolute work of art of a raised hill with a pack of wolves ascending to the top. Water slid at their feet, shimmering, until it fell into the fountain around it. Names were carved on the wolves' body, the alpha leading the pack has one distinct marking, a kanji for Dragon on its shoulder. The spectators clapped in awe and admiration, tears in their eyes. Luffy dipped his head and headed to the back so some of the others could give speeches about their lost ones. Then the festival and feast began.

* * *

Robin and Zoro left Pet later, as she remarked that she would rest some more. The two reported covertly that Pet was in good spirits to their Captain. Only once the festival was coming to an end, was Pet able to stand on her own power without pain. Law, a doctor of prestige, made sure of Pet's speedy recovery by rolling her bed out into the moonlight every night since she awoke. She awoke when they were still at sea on the way to the festival so she's been gathering strength since then.

Pet arose from her bed and left on quiet footsteps to see the last of the festival. On the way, she picked up a cane to help with her busted knee and she could walk around and enjoy the festival in a pleased state. She wore a hood to conceal her face and had fun watching everyone. She even went to look at the fountain and admire it. She could practically smell the happiness in the air, the relief that the war is over.

Finally, Luffy entered the plaza carrying Roan, and holding Azara's hand. They saw the figure and Luffy stopped, crouching and letting Roan stand on his own two feet. Azara asks, "Who is that? Are they the surprise you had for us?"

Luffy smiles, "Yeah, go say hi."

Pet turns to face the three. "Hello Azara-chan, Roan-chan."

Azara cocks her head, "I don't know anyone with a cane."

It's Roan who would never forget the voice of the one who saved him and encouraged him. Roan takes a step forward, a little toddler step on seemingly unstable legs, "Ka?"

Azara shoots him a fierce look before peering into her uncle's face. Luffy nods for her to look at the stranger. Pet removes her hood with a small smile, "I'm not your mother, Roan-chan. I'm your aunt."

Azara feels the whole world warp before, with tears streaming, she runs to her aunt. "Pet! You're alive! I always knew it! Oohhh, I was so sad!" Azara wails as Pet bends to pick up her niece.

"I had to keep it a secret sweetheart, I still have a lot of enemies. I'm sorry to have kept it from you all this time."

Roan also latches onto Pet. Pet ruffles his hair as the toddler cries and jumps with joy. Luffy wipes a stray tear at the touching scene, recalling the time he and Sabo reunited.

Pet gives Azara a big kiss before pressing her lips to Roan's head. "I have someone you guys might want to meet later."

Azara sobs into Pet's shoulder, shaking. Roan just hugs her leg, not the bad one, otherwise Pet would've crumbled to the ground if he'd hugged her bad leg.

After a time, Pet smiles through the tears spilling down her cheeks. "Let's head back to Law's ship, okay?"

Luffy joins them and gently detaches the toddler from Pet's leg. Roan sits calmly in Luffy's arms as they all head back to the ships. The streets are quiet, the partying for days has taken its toll on everyone. Pet walks with an arm linked in Luffy's, leaning onto him only the slightest for support. Luffy doesn't mind and the young ones don't notice. Pet controls her breathing while walking.

Eventually they find themselves nearing the port and greeted by the two other Captains. Kid hangs back while Law pulls Pet's hood back and looks her deep in the eye.

He straightens and orders, "Back to bed."

Pet smirks and offers a nod, "Aye sir."

Kid steps in, "Wait."

The small group turns to him and he jerks his chin behind them, "Some people are here to see you Pet."

Pet turns then lets Azara slide down her at the faces she's greeted with. She starts to walk toward the new group, with a slight limp and she's embraced by the former second in command of the old Red Haired Pirate Crew. Benn Beckman's smile is defined by age, he murmurs quietly, "We wanted to see you before you disappear."

Pet grips the man so tightly, she hasn't seen him since her capture. After the death of Shanks, their crew disappeared and that was one of the reasons why Pet felt so very alone. Shanks was not the only reason Pet loved being on his ship, Pet was part of the family too. She is soon enveloped by all the others as they hold the shivering woman. "I missed you all so much. I thought I'd never see any of you again."

Beckman and the others share varying signs of mirth and reproach. They all disperse somewhat and Beckman does the talking. "We couldn't leave you feeling alone all this time. You were busy with the war, but we knew you didn't die, we just had to find Luffy."

Pet nods into his chest, surrounded by them, surrounded by memories of Shanks. She weeps, held up by Beckman and teased by her other crying crewmates. She pulls away, "I need you all to meet someone. It's very important..." She shoots Luffy a certain look, who jumps onto his ship, only to return with a small bundle later. Pet holds out a hand to her child and says with a slight quiver in her voice, "Meet Tatsuo, Shanks' and my son."

There's a loud uproar of surprise and happiness. Pet holds the baby, with blazing red eyes open, and looking around at new faces. Tatsuo's hair is black against his head, with red strands starting to show through. Beckman and Pet's crew all crowd around the baby, admiring him and making funny faces and laughing. Tatsuo laughs at the weird crew. They laugh with tears in their eyes and remark on his likeness to his parents, such as Pet's fierce red eyes and some of Shanks red hair, his nose, his brows. Once the baby grows, he will have a firm build like his father and the wit and silver tongue shared by both his wise parents, every faculty he needs to live a fulfilled life.

They are all sure of his potential and know that with Pet as his mother and guardian, he will flourish.

The sun begins to shed its light on their party just as Pet leans heavily on Yasopp and Lucky Roo, both her arms across their shoulders. Azara and Roan share in the spotlight and also partook in gathering around Pet's child.

The time for them to go has come. A solemn quiet settles over the adults as the family shares lasting glances. Pet is the first to speak, although with her head bowed, "Thank you all for coming to see me and for welcoming me so many years ago. I love you all."

Murmurs of agreement and returns of feeling rumble in the group. Pet stands and they all give one last hug before the crew of the 'Red Haired' Shanks disbands. Pet finally got her closure with her former crew mates and watches them all leave, holding Tatsuo in her arms. She smiles and laughs boisterously like she used to with Shanks, grinning, "The sea may be vast, but I'm sure to see them again."

Feeling her heart swell and giddy, she returns to Law's ship. The younger crews left them alone, out of place at the legends' reunion. Robin takes Tatsuo from Pet as Law guides the woman to her bed.

* * *

"What do you mean you're leaving?"

Pet's brow furrows as she gently takes Azara's hand, "I'm retired now, I need to find a home and I can't stick around here otherwise I'm bound to be discovered sooner or later."

Pet's trying to make Azara understand the need for her to go. Though Uchiha children develop fast, the girl is still very young. She doesn't have the capacity to interpret why they have to leave Luffy... and Law. Pet can see Azara's attachment, but Pet levels with Azara, "If I go, Tatsuo will be going... and so will Roan..."

Azara steps back from her aunt, deep in thought. Pet narrows her gaze at the young female, "If you come with me, I can teach you to be a doctor, a good one, but I won't live nor travel on the sea any longer. You'd be land bound until you're old enough to set out on your own journey. If you wish to stay with Law, and study and sail under him, I'm okay with that... but Roan will disappear with me, Azara-chan. You won't see him grow, but know that he will be safe with me, and maybe if he decides to go on his own journey, you'll meet again."

Azara stares up into her aunt's discerning eyes, Pet responds, "Law and the rest are pirates; pirates may be family, but I can't ask any of them to raise such a young child. You're closer to coming of age. Roan can't stay with you and would you really want him to grow up on a pirate ship?"

Azara thinks of the danger and gives curt nod. She struggles with her feelings before finally conceding, "I want to be a pirate and be a part of Law's crew. I want to study under him... Will I never see any of you again? Is it okay for me to let you all leave?"

Pet draws Azara into her arms, "We will always love you, but I think you've found your place... and at such a young age? You're very lucky. We'll have to say goodbye for good... Grow into a smart and strong Uchiha woman for me, okay? Never let anyone stop you from doing as you please, young pirate, you're free."

Azara nods, holding back her tears. Pet pats her shoulder, "You'll have to tell them for me. I leave tonight." Azara gives another nod, "I love you. Go spend time with Roan and Tatsuo, okay?" Azara slaps her cheeks and scampers off.

Pet sighs,_ Am I expecting too much? Should I have just taken her with me?_

_She'll be fine. She'll be a valuable asset to Law's crew as a doctor and I'm sure sharing blood with you will guarantee her status as a fine warrior._

_I hope you're right._

_You were younger than her when Masahiro kicked you out. She'll survive and she'll have plenty of people looking out for her._

Pet chuckles, _Yeah, Law's a big softy on the inside too._

* * *

That night, Pet does her disappearing act. Azara saw them off. She molds her sadness into conviction and sets out to follow her dreams.

In the morning, Law's crew mates discover Pet's absence and inform their Captain. Law bursts outside to find Azara leaning on the rail, watching the sea. He asks, "Where's your aunt?"

Azara informs him, "She left... Roan and Tatsuo are gone too."

Law crouches by her and she looks him dead in the eye with her fantastic eyes, "May I stay on your ship and learn to be a doctor under you?"

Law remains impassive when meeting her gaze, before he agrees, "Alright, but I won't go easy on you because of your age or gender, got it?" He holds back a smirk, wondering if Pet was anything like her niece when she was younger, straightforward and businesslike.

Azara affirms, "Aye Captain." Law can see the uncertainty in little Azara, but she's desperately trying to overcome her trepidation and fear. She knows what she wants to do and she's trying her best to not let anything get in her way.

He stands to his full height and nods at Bepo to make Azara at home, before he goes to tell Luffy's crew. Surprisingly, Kid is there leaning on the Sunny's rail on deck, apparently waiting for him. Law asks, "Did you know about Pet?"

Kid grins, "Made sense for her to go. Don't tell me you didn't see this coming Trafalgar."

Law frowns and then the two turn at Luffy's entrance from the kitchen onto the deck. He passes his gaze over the two before releasing a laugh and grinning like the sun, "So she left?"

The two smirk at Luffy's own growth. The Pirate King reflects by tilting his head, "Dang, I thought for sure she was going to leave during the festival."

Law offers, "She left Azara-ya."

Luffy smiles, "Take care of her."

Law challenges, "Don't give me orders, high and mighty Strawhat-ya."

Kid's metallic arm creaks as he flexes it, "Now that the war's over, the rivalry's back on, eh!? Let's raise some hell! HAHAHA!"

Steam rolls off Luffy as he grins at his challengers, the stress is all gone, the need for them to behave civilly is all gone. Now they can go back to their pirating ways and getting into trouble.

Somewhere, far away, Pet finds herself smirking at the great power spikes from whence she just came. The boys are at it again.

* * *

Pet wandered for a while, searching for a haven. Still, she had some places to visit before settling completely.

Holding Tatsuo close to her bosom beneath her cloak, Roan scampers next to her whilst holding her hand. "Why ere, Ka?"

Pet's smooth voice slips out from beneath the shadow of her hood, "I haven't visited this island in a while. There's someone I want to talk to."

"When we gone see Neh-neh?"

Pet sighs, "Not for a really long time, Roan-chan. Let's just get this done then I have three other places to visit. Then we can find a home." Roan merely proceeds to watch his surroundings, letting the worries of tomorrow slip out of his young brain. He feels no anxiety, he has no understanding of it.

The trio enters a wooded area until they come upon a moss covered tombstone. Roan sees the strange stone protruding from the ground. He immediately moves to wipe the moss from it, and unveil the words, though he can't read. His actions are instinctual, like he's seen it done before.

Pet kneels and unveils Tatsuo within. She lays him on the soft earth with his many blankets protecting him from the damp. Then she helps in cleaning the tombstone. She hums as every inch is cleaned, then she and Roan sit back.

Roan looks at her expectantly and she smiles at him before picking up Tatsuo. "This is an old friend of mine's. He meant a lot to me and to Law-kun, even Doffy. Doffy is his older brother."

Roan cocks his head and asks,"He dead?" Pet nods.

Roan falls silent, and Pet turns her full attention to Cora's stone. She laughs, "A lot has happened since I last came here... So, so much Cora. You wouldn't believe-" Pet covers her face, uncovering, "I lost my husband and much of my family. I fought in the war, and the peace is holding steady. I wish you could've seen this day come..." Roan watches his aunt and comes to sit next to her. Pet holds him to her, losing the will or the ability to speak. She whispers, "Doflamingo saved me..."

She visits Ace and Whitebeard's grave site next, then has to find where everyone buried Shanks while Pet was locked away. Needless to say, Pet sobbed heavily while tracing the words on his stone. Roan held her hand with Tatsuo supported in his arms.

After she finished, they left to one last stop. The journey was not easy because of Pet's injuries. Many times, Roan had to wait patiently for Pet to catch her breath, leaning on a wall. Even then, he pressed for details after waking up one morning to Pet's slamming the door open to the room and shutting it closed behind her. He'd been asleep and awoke at the abrupt entrance. He slid off the bed and walked into the hallway of the small motel. He rubbed his eyes and Pet looked up at him with dark rings around her eyes from a seemingly long night. Dirt and mud cakes her clothes and skin, also soot.

Roan asks, "Wha happen?"

Pet smiles sleepily, "I left for a while, Roan-chan, I'm sorry... I couldn't take you with me on this one, not this one... Now that I've finished everything though, I'll make it up to you for the rest of your life, okay?"

Roan just accepts it and moves on, he's not sure what she's talking about. When he awakens fully, he's more questioning, but Pet simply tells him that she'll tell him when he's older.

Truth is, Pet paid a little visit to their old island of Baterilla. She found the ruins and the bones of her people in heaps. The birds had already picked everything bare. She found a few male sculls on spears and swords. She took them all down with shaking hands and buried all of them and marked every grave. She then took the valuables, the books, the medicine, some weapons, the canned food, also, the records of the Void Century and their history. Pet carried it all back to the ship she commandeered for her little voyage and set sail back to the island she left Roan and Tatsuo on. Even while she was busy all through the night, she always had her sixth sense honed in on her two boys.

Roan would later find out about their new property, he just didn't recognize that it was old. Pet had decided on their new home, all that was left was to go to it and settle down, polish a cane.

* * *

Many years pass, in that time, the number of pirates have dwindled, though the violent ones have renewed the feelings of anger and disgust towards most pirates. Pirates are shunned unlike the times they were thanked and revered for helping win victory during the great revolutionary war.

With the rivalry back on, Luffy and his fellow Captains went their separate ways to live freely and roam the seas as they wish. They haven't heard nor seen much of each other since the time of the war has gone. All of them have built vast crews, and many bear their insignia, although it's mainly for show now. The branches of their crews, many of those people have never even seen nor met their Captains.

It was a few weeks ago when Luffy remarked how he wished he could meet up with Torao and Flamehead again and go on an adventure, and just as he said it, he decided to make it happen by calling them up and setting up a meeting time and place.

They decided on a small and quaint island.

Luffy was the first to lead his crew through the town. His powerful group was all but ignored by the townspeople, they went on their merry way. The crew entered the town bar that held a resemblance to Makino's old place. Luffy sat at one of the tables and his crew followed his lead. The back door behind the counter opened and revealed a small and seemingly frail old woman. She limps inside on a wooden cane, her wrinkled hands and arms exposed as she hobbles inside and asks, "What can I get for you youngsters? Rum, beer, sake, whiskey? I've got it all."

Luffy grins, "Rum for me."

The rest give their varying preferences. Brooke asks for milk and Chopper asks for cotton candy. The jokes and jaunty behavior ensues within the bar. All the while, the old crone walks about giving bottles and refilling drinks, very slowly, however, since her bones ache with age. Luffy watches the woman, thinking back on his older sister. He's never come across her in his travels, and occasionally wonders where she might be hiding.

He looks for her in this old woman, but determines that Pet would only be fifty at this time, not old enough to develop that many wrinkles and shrink so much. The woman's white hair also flows out from the hood of her cloak. Luffy's doubts were confirmed when he heard her speak, her voice was cracked and breathy, nowhere near the smooth melodic voice of his older sister.

He sighs as he takes another swig from his drink and watches the woman work. Then all the inhabitants' attention is grabbed by the double swinging doors opening to reveal Law and Kid. Law smirks at Luffy, while Kid dons his crazed smile.

Luffy gets up to greet the two and he cocks his head, "Eh? You two got old, shishi!"

The two growl, "Have you looked in the mirror!?"

The bar laughs and the other crews mingle and chat. Fun is to be had all around the bar as jokes and stories are told. Law is the first to notice the poster board filled with Wanted posters. An extremely old one catches his eye as he stands and moves to get a closer look.

Luffy asks, "Torao, what're you looking at?"

Kid joins him with Luffy following as they all gaze at one of Pet's old wanted posters. Luffy smiles at the sight. Her brown hair is flowing around her, her claws and fangs glint in the sun, and those precious eyes of hers. Luffy asks, "Oi, ba-san, why do you have a picture of Pet?"

The woman chuckles, "I remember watching Pet's progress through the Marines when I was younger. I was devastated to hear her pass, I always liked her fire."

Luffy agrees solemnly, though he knows Pet is out roaming in some far away land. A young woman, from Law's crew, stands abruptly, "What do you know about Pet, old woman?"

The addressed turns to study the fierce lady, "You have wonderful eyes, dearie."

Law narrows his gaze at the younger as she walks up to the counter and sits, glaring down at the old woman behind it with her purplish teal eyes. "What can you tell me about Pet?"

Shrugging, "I only know what the papers told me, unfortunately." The crone notes the katana at her back and the pack at her hip.

"Pet is my aunt." The older Azara sits back, "Can you tell me anything I don't already know?"

"Well, I followed your aunt's story all the way till the end, but I'm not sure what you know, child."

Azara asks, "I want to know about before and after Ace-san's death. These guys were too caught up in their own business to pay her any attention."

The woman hums, "During those times, I remember stories of Pet's eradicating Marine corruption in the New World. She was the head in the New World you know. I quite enjoyed musing over her battles against the Yonko and other pirates. She tussled with Kaido especially, but it was really interesting hearing about her fight with 'Red Haired' Shanks."

Azara presses, "She fought Shanks as an Admiral?"

The woman nods gravely, "Oh yes, she won apparently too."

Luffy shakes his head, "No, it was a draw. Pet didn't want to fight him and he didn't want to fight her. They didn't put anything into it."

Azara stares at Luffy, "How do you know?"

Luffy grins at his niece, "Shanks told me about it."

The woman shrugs, "After that, it seems there was a reporter that was visiting their Headquarters and saw Pet and Akainu at each other's throats. It's a great picture, Pet looked very angry and Akainu was wiping his chin of the blood. Seems Pet did the usual afterward, since she disappeared from the news for a while."

Law fills in, "Until she saved Eustass-ya and I on Sabaody."

Kid smiles, "After she finished beating the bloody pulp out of us."

Azara giggles, "Why'd she do that? I thought she always had a soft spot for you three?"

Law sighs as he concedes, "She knew of Ace's execution at that point and to try to keep her under control, they gave her a drug that would let them control her will."

Azara frowns, "They made her hurt you guys?"

Law chuckles darkly, "She was just about to kill us before she snapped out of it and ended up healing us." Kid nods in agreement.

Azara diverts her attention back to the bartender, "Do you know what happened after that?"

The woman hums, "Well, she fought at the war, I went to see it on the big screen at Sabaody. It went black though, so the reporters on the battlefield gave her some credit, but it was very strange..."

Kid laughs snidely, "Of course it was, she fought against the Marines at the Summit War. She just appeared out of nowhere and went to town on them."

Luffy agrees, "She helped save my life and let Law get me to safety."

Kid interjects, "I stayed for the rest unlike you guys. Shanks showed up and ended it, he actually had to stop a major showdown between Pet and the three Admirals. Pet wasn't looking so hot anyways."

Azara smiles, "What happened after that, with her?"

Luffy adds, "She brought me out of the dark place I was in and then I didn't see her until the New World years later."

The old woman gets to fill in the blanks, "She showed up in the papers later as a traitor to the World Government from her defecting the Marines. She single-handedly fought against the three Admirals, Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru on Punk Hazard, where Akainu and Aokiji would later have a battle of their own. Then it was discovered that she was sailing under 'Red Haired' Shanks."

A heavy silence befalls them, Azara feels giddy, "I'm happy I have the full story."

Luffy throws an arm around her, laughing, "None of us have the full story Azara! That's what makes Pet so mysterious, she always surprises."

Just then, the door to the back room opens and shuts, a young man enters their view in the doorway behind the counter. He smiles at the old woman, "Ka-san, I can take over the bar until closing for you."

She agrees, "That would be just fine, Ren-kun. I'll go get dinner ready, eh?"

Ren nods and lets his mother pass. Once she's gone, he looks upon the group on the stools at the bar with hazel eyes, green and light brown. Azara admires his muscular build. Ren grins, "You all look like you've seen a ghost, did my mother tell you your fortunes or something?"

They laugh and Ren gets to catering to their alcoholic tendencies.

At closing time, Ren bids the pirates farewell and heads up the town, to the path through the woods, to his house. He enters the pleasantly smelling home into the kitchen to find a changed woman. Her wrinkles have all but disappeared and her white hair has changed back to brown. Her glimmering yellow eyes pierce his own, but she smiles lightly, "I thought you would've stayed longer Roan-kun."

Roan shrugs and takes a seat at the table, "And miss your cooking? No way."

Pet finishes up some more dishes, "You could've told them and went with them. You've been of age for a long time, Roan."

Roan shakes his head, "Pirating and sailing the seas aren't my thing. I like helping out in town and staying with you, Ka-san."

Pet hums in thought, "As long as you're happy."

Soon they're joined by a rambunctious teenager. He comes in through a window with a wide grin, resembling his father's, "Ka-chan! Guess what!?"

Pet laughs, "What!?"

A smile finds its way onto Roan's face as well at the playfulness of his younger brother.

Tatsuo grins, "Chicken butt!" Pet cocks her head before shaking it, realizing the joke. Roan slaps his face in exasperation.

Tatsuo is more slender than Roan, but he has built muscles like the older. His hair is not just the typical raven, but he has red strands that make his hair flame in the sun like a small fire over coal, just like his deceased uncle.

Pet sets plates filled to the brim with food on the table and the small family sits and digs in. Some time passes before Pet asks, "Did you see who came to visit Tatsuo-kun?"

Tatsuo nods with a mouth full of food, "Luffy and Law and Kid and their crews right!? It was cool to see them in person after all your stories Ka-chan."

Pet smiles, "You're of age too, you know. You don't have to stay with me anymore either. I've taught you both most of everything I know."

Tatsuo holds her hand and props his head on his fist, "I'm not ready to go yet Ka-chan. Plus, won't you take me to see to-san's grave in the old New World?"

Roan has a vague memory of Pet's weeping at his grave. Pet affirms, "I will..."

Roan adds, "I want to see our old village and visit my mother's and father's graves, as well as everyone else."

Pet nods vaguely, "Okay, I'll take you to that too then... You boys can't stay by my side forever though. You have to go experience the world before you can decide if your place is truly here with me."

Roan starts cleaning up the table, "You're not holding us back, Ka-san."

Pet smiles, "I know I'm not, I'm actually trying very hard to make you spread your wings and get off this island, but after all my effort, here you two are."

Tatsuo kisses her hair, before helping clear the table, "I'll leave later, Ka-chan. No worries, I want to see the world that my father saw and sailed. I feel like I have to wait for something though, like I can't leave without a certain... something?"

Pet blinks at her son, her flesh and blood. "Don't put it off forever. You're eighteen and not getting any younger, kid."

Tatsuo sticks his tongue out at her, but then runs when a giant black wolf comes bearing down on him. Roan merely sighs at the antics and washes the dishes. They all go outside to watch the moon glimmer in the little stream in front of their house on the hill. Pet admires the scenery of the woods and rocks around the house she built. Coming out the front porch, to the left is the woods and path leading to the town, and to the right some distance is their personal shore with the sea.

Pet sits on the steps, musing over the people she saw today. Azara has grown into a strong woman, just like Pet wished. Her issue is with the pain she saw behind Azara's eyes, _she must miss us, or feel abandoned by me._

Pet hates that, but she can't come out of hiding. Tatsuo will surely make a name for himself when he gets out into the world, they'll be sure to recognize him. Until then, Azara must patiently wait for any sign of her family. Pet rubs her aching knee, her arm also aches from time to time, but the moon usually soothes her aches.

Life has been good to her these years. Tatsuo is eighteen, and seems so happy. Roan is twenty-one, and content in his life. Pet takes pride in that. Luffy would be thirty seven and he can always have a good time. Azara would be twenty-six now, too.

Pet smiles to herself and Tatsuo sits beside her, leaning his chin on her shoulder, "What's up, Ka-chan?"

Pet murmurs and wraps her arm around his shoulders, "Soon, thirty years will pass, and I wonder what will have changed then."

Roan leans on the porch rail, "If I've learned anything from you and Tatsuo, I don't think it matters. Let's just live in the moment and take it as we go."

Tatsuo stands up, "Yeah!" He runs across the stones and stream, heading for the woods. Pet smirks as he calls back, amidst running backward, "I'm going to go see if Luffy and the others left. If they haven't, I might do some sneaking around, okay? Let's see if they notice, dahaha!"

Tatsuo goes stealth mode while moving through the town. He jumps onto the roof of a shop and runs to the docks. Hiding behind a chimney, he sees the ships are gone. His heart sinks ever so slightly, before he shrugs and heads back to inform his mother and adoptive brother about their extended family having set sail.

Pet could see the pull of the sea in her son, more than in her nephew. After all, their bedtime stories were censored stories of Pet's adventures growing up and, for Tatsuo, some of the ones Shanks' told her. Tatsuo had the hunger for danger and adventure as both his parents before him.

Pet knew that Luffy might just be the ticket Tatsuo's been waiting for. Luffy's visit sparked something in the boy, and though there's no chance that Luffy will return, Tatsuo may pine until he decides to find his uncle.

* * *

**Author's End Note: **I believe we have two more then. Sorry, no action this chapter, next chapter though... Let me know, Review, Follow, Favorite. Hope ya'll enjoyed. People are still following and favoriting, so thanks for all that attention peoples. Reviews are my life source as a writer, however.


	32. Interrupted

_Enjoy._

* * *

The ache became increasingly obvious as the Pirate King awoke, almost as if from a long slumber after a hard day's battle. He groans and tries to move only to discover he's impeded by bandages. His doctor calls, "Luffy, are you okay?"

His archaeologist's voice resounds, "He's probably in a lot of pain, Chopper. We don't know the extent of what happened."

Luffy's voice cracks and he asks weakly, "Water..."

Nami moves about and puts a glass to his lips, "We were waiting for you Captain. Zoro and Sanji have some minor aches as well, they're standing guard outside. I'm not sure exactly where we are just yet."

Luffy feels life flow into his muscles at the refreshment, "What happened?"

He looks to the door opening as Zoro comes through it. His good eye planted on his leader, he asserts gravely, "We're not sure ourselves."

Luffy sits up with a wince and notices the bandages covering his stomach and arms. His legs feel a little sore, as if overexerted. Even despite his own growing concern, he smiles, "Let's take a look around and have a little fun."

Luffy is surprised when Sanji comes inside, followed by Killer and Bepo. Sanji inhales on a cigarette before informing his Captain, "Kid and Law are wounded as well, but it seems you got the brunt of it."

Luffy raises a brow and laughs, "Kid and Law were involved? This keeps getting more mysterious!"

The crew all crack smiles at his ease in accepting a situation and rolling with it. Arising, Luffy is supported by Zoro in walking out on his precious Sunny. Killer tells them, "Both our crews," including Law's since Killer is speaking for shy Bepo, "only remember going to sleep when we docked on Laira." Laira is the name of the island they met on.

Luffy asks, "Did anyone check this island out?"

Brooke plucks some strings of his violin, "We thought it best to wait for your awakening."

Luffy grins and rises off Zoro to stand of his own power. He walks to the head of Sunny and looks down on the beach. He looks into a small valley surrounded with parallel mountains and past the rocky bottom is a forest. He murmurs, "Are you sure you don't know where we are, Nami?"

Nami joins him at his side, "It could be a few different islands we've been to."

Luffy hums in thought but right before he's about to jump down, Kid calls, "Where do you think you're going?"

Luffy offers a sunny grin to his rivals, "Do some exploring, wanna come?"

Kid returns the grin but with his own twisted flair, and Law smirks. Luffy jumps down onto the beach, he notes the upturned sand and... are those spots smoldering? Some from the crews also have a look around, while some stay up on the ships, merely watching their companions. Zoro mutters, "Looks like there was a fight here."

Cracks and holes in the ground along with some of the mountain missing on the side as if hit by a meteorite tell him this. Luffy can't help the flashes through his fuzzy mind. He sways and steps back as images flair through his mind. It's as if he's watching an old video where the picture keeps going black or has spots all around it. Don't even get started on analyzing the sound. He turns to Kid and Law's strained faces as well, but his crew all seem perfectly fine? What happened?

Quite suddenly, Sanji informs them, "There's a house closer to the edge of the forest on the other mountain."

Their group is closer to the slope of the eastern mountain, if the forest is northern. They begin heading to the mountainside house on the western mountain. Just as they near it, Luffy stops at the daggers in a line across their path. Luffy peers up at the roof of the house where a man stands. He's of muscular build; he twirls another dagger in his free hand as he regards them. Before questions can be asked, "Best you folks leave on those fancy ships. We don't want trouble."

Kid steps forward, "Who said we were trouble?

Azara squints at him, "Ren?"

Luffy gapes at the man, "Eh? Ren? We met you yesterday! I thought we were friends!"

Ren brandishes another knife while pointing the dagger at Luffy, "Sorry to say, Luffy-san, but that yesterday was a long time ago. Two weeks to be exact."

The whole lot of them gasp. Law growls, "What do you mean? What happened?"

Ren's smile almost appears as a snarl, "I have no desire to share answers with you, just leave and never come back. You've done enough."

Luffy holds his hands up, placating, "Hold on, what did we do? Looks like there was a fight, did we do something to you? If so, you can tell us and we'll make it better."

Ren really snarls this time, "Leave! You've done enough!"

Finally some smooth melodic voice emanates from a tall figure on the porch, "That's enough. They won't leave. Time to come clean." She wears a cloak with brown hair around her shoulders, a few white strands to show her aging. Most of them know her on first glance and are rendered completely speechless. She leans on the porch rail, watching them with some sweat at her brow.

Luffy steps forward, as he does, some other quicker person moves to snap a punch right in Pet's face. The raven is intercepted by Ren, looking fierce. Azara screams, trying to get around him, get to Pet, "Where is my baby brother!?"

Ren locks Azara in his arms in her fury. Pet sweat drops, "Uh, he's kind of hugging you right now? Aren't you going to return it, Azara-chan?"

Azara stops struggling and looks at Ren. He releases her with a shy smile, "I'm not a baby anymore, Azara."

She's just as quick enveloping him in her embrace, "Ren? You were Roan this whole time?" She sobs into his neck as he holds her back. She cries, "I've missed you so much. Look how big you've gotten, so strong, and your eyes are beautiful."

He smiles, he has more than a few inches on her, taking more after Hatashi's side with Pet. Pet meets his gaze with a content smirk. After the sibling reunion, Luffy booms with laughter, "Pet! You're here!" He steps forward only to get blown away by a powerful stamp to his face. A young man stands where he stood, with fiery tips complemented by charcoal locks.

Luffy groans as all his other wounds ache and he has a sense of deja vu again, along with the other two Captains. Unbeknownst to him, the young man emits waves of powerful Conqueror's Haki, "You don't touch her. Don't come close to her."

Pet knew her son had an affinity for the power, but he had yet to discover it till now. Masking her pleasure, Pet scolds, "Tatsuo, they don't remember. They're fine now. No fighting."

Law chuckles while Kid laughs maniacally, "Tatsuo!? Your son!?"

Luffy stands up with a grin, "Nice, kid, you just planted me in the ground with one hit."

Tatsuo narrows his gaze at him, "I was holding back."

Luffy slaps his shoulder, "Sure you were!" Tatsuo tenses before turning away and hopping onto the porch beside his mother. His red eyes show concern to her for a moment, before she eases his worry with a smile.

She smiles at them, "How about a feast?"

Luffy nods pleasurably. Sanji and some of the other cooks step forward, Pet tells them, "I have a lot a food, but we'll need more, if you could bring what you have and make some runs into town. You all can use my kitchen."

They get busy and Luffy watches Pet tell Tatsuo, "Would you be so kind as to get the tables from the basement and start taking out the chairs to set up?"

Tatsuo sighs before going to do as his mother asks. Once he's inside the house, Luffy steps up beside Pet, and marvels at how much smaller she seems than he remembers. Pet keeps her eyes on the group in front of her, but soon some of the people she was closer to in her travels crowd on the porch to begin their questioning. Luffy muses, "I worried I'd never see you again."

Pet shrugs, "That was the plan."

Azara growls, "Were you going to keep my brother from me forever?"

Pet turns a hard gaze on her niece, her beautifully grown niece, the seriousness simmers away in looking at her. Pet can't scold her or be angry with her right now, she's worried about her too much. "I've been telling the boys they can leave on their own adventures whenever they want. Roan-kun just doesn't have the pull of the sea like you do, Azara-chan. Tatsuo has been waiting for the right moment, he tells me."

Kid smirks, "It must be really painful for him to stay."

Pet shakes her head, "Sure, I see the hunger for adventure, but he's a really calm and collected young man at heart. He listens to his gut a lot more like his father."

Law offers, "And you."

Pet smiles, "I do most things on fact, more than Shanks."

Luffy grins, "No, Nee-chan, you've gone to war based on feelings."

Azara cuts in, "If Roan was Ren, then was the ba-ba you?"

"Yes, it was me."

Law asks, "How did you do it? The wrinkles and the hair, the height, the voice even?"

Pet responds, "It was an illusion, a trick of light. I just released some of my devil fruit power around me and made it look, sound, and feel like an old lady. The hood was just so I didn't have to go the extra mile and pick a new face."

Kid laughs, "Nice one..."

The demeanor around Pet shifts, she closes her eyes, "Don't ask me what happened. Either remember on your own, or just forget it." She's referring to their memory loss and why the terrain looks as though a fight occurred.

Azara steps forward, fierce as ever, "I never realized how secretive you were."

Pet offers a sympathetic smile, "All for good reason. If you'd grown up with your parents, your whole life, your very existence would've been a secret to everyone. I grew up in that town, the secrets of it are great."

Azara narrows her eyes at her Aunt, bringing up her leg to kick her down, "Don't talk about my parents like that."

Tatsuo, coming out from the house, kicks Azara down on the rocks, red eyes blazing as she looks up at him with seething rage. "Don't you dare lay a hand on my mother, cousin."

Azara arises amidst pulling a katana from her back, "You looking for a fight, little boy?"

Tatsuo begins literally smoking, "You're not even worth my time, weakling."

Pet's deep growl penetrates the tension between them, "Not near my house. If you need to fight, take it over there and don't even think of bringing damage here."

The smoke dissipates and Tatsuo turns to his mom, "Why won't you raise your hand to these people? I know they didn't know what they were doing before, but now it's fair game Ka-san."

Azara is about to move forward to teach her younger cousin a lesson when Law's hand wraps around her throat and he slams her down. She lays winded and coughing while her Captain stands over her, "You're letting your feelings get the better of you Azara-ya, and making me look bad. Enough of this attitude. Either treat your Aunt with the respect she has earned a thousand times over, or go back to the ship."

Tatsuo grins, his playful teasing side rising to the surface. Pet holds his hand to draw back his serious attention, _"__I just don't have it in me anymore, sweetie."_

Tatsuo feels his heart break as he envelops his dear mother in an embrace, "I'm sorry I was angry at you for not sticking up for yourself. I wasn't thinking..." Of course Pet would be tired of fighting. She lived most of her life on a battlefield and then she escapes to this quaint little island for some peace, and some of her old life comes back. All these old friends returning doesn't mean that Pet's old habits will resurface as well, she still just wants to live peacefully, without life threatening struggles or strife.

Tatsuo recognizes his own fighting spirit, the one he inherited from both his father and his mother, but he also can feel the calm voice within that does indeed tread softly, but also carries a big stick.

Azara walks up and grumbles, "I apologize for my actions and rudeness when I am a guest." She goes to sulk sitting on the other side of the porch on the railing.

Luffy rings an arm around Tatsuo, "So I hear you're waiting for the right time to set sail."

Tatsuo nods, "Pirating has kind of died down, but there are some places I want to visit before any of that. Ka-chan said she'd take Roan and I. Then after, I want to explore the world, maybe captain a ship."

Law questions, "Where do you want to visit with Pet-san?"

Tatsuo grins, "I want to see To-san's grave, then Roan wants to visit the old Uchiha village where Ka-chan went back and gave everyone a proper burial. I want to see the old town too."

Azara perks up, "What do you mean she gave them a proper burial? Some ritual or something?"

Tatsuo is about to menacingly step forward to defend his mother's honor but Pet places a hand on his shoulder as she answers, "No, their skeletons were all over the place from Tetsuya. I tidied up and buried them, marking each grave."

Tatsuo swells with pride, "And she did it all in one night because Roan and I were sleeping on another island while she took care of that."

Azara looks around her at the three Supernova Captains, "You all left my family's bodies out and about and let them rot in the sun?"

Law sighs and rubs his chin, "We didn't know where the town was."

Luffy shakes his head, "Didn't even know Tetsuya did that."

Kid grins, "Still wanted to save him after that Pet?"

Pet shrugs, "I don't like giving up on family. He was my younger brother even after everything he did."

Azara gapes at Pet, "You mean? The Tetsuya, the big bad Tetsuya was my uncle? You wanted to save him?"

Pet blinks at her, "They didn't tell you that? I did give him a finishing blow, and he saved me before Uranus blew up the island."

Tatsuo snickers and Pet smacks him upside the head. He grins playfully at her, and Sanji calls, "Dinner's ready!"

The tables were set up in the yard in front of Pet's house. Luffy whoops, "Time to feast!"

Pet disappears for a moment. They all sit at the table and Azara looks around. Her eyes search for her brother, only when she can't find him does she ask, "Where's Roan?"

Luffy pauses shoveling food in his mouth, and with a mouth full, "Where's Pet?"

Soon, Roan walks out of the house, he freezes at all eyes on him, "Did you all need something?"

Tatsuo gets up and brushes past him to go inside. Roan looks at his back as he leaves. Azara's advance pulls his attention back, "Is she in there?"

Roan nods as he hops down the wooden steps and walks with Azara back to the table, "Pet won't be joining us for dinner. She's a bit tired."

There's almost an uproar but Luffy silences them with a weak wave of Conqueror's Haki. Roan doesn't know he did this.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tatsuo walks into Pet's room to find her sleeping deeply on the covers. She has fresh bandages thanks to Roan's help, no thanks to those strangers outside. Tatsuo moves and sits quietly on her bed, silent and pensive. The images from the days before flood his mind.

* * *

It was a week ago when the small family was awoken in the night to a loud bang. Tatsuo was groggily sitting up in his bed before he looked at the silhouette of his mother passing by his door. He hops out quickly and runs to catch up. As soon as he gets outside, he sees the fire lining their beach. Pet is already at the edge of the flames staring into the sea at something Tatsuo can't make out. He walks out from the small grass and brush to the sand about to call to her just as the air around her shifts, crackling with energy. Her dormant power re-surges and Tatsuo is taken aback at her bulging muscles, sharpened fangs and claws, and the pulse of energy blowing him slightly back. "Ka-chan?"

Then the voice reaches him too, "My my, doesn't that look just like Tetsuya!? Is he still alive? No, he's much too young..."

Tatsuo squints behind the fire, there's definitely a giant mass, he deducts it's most likely a ship.

Pet growls softly to Tatsuo, "Go back to the house, I have to take care of this."

Tatsuo puffs indignantly, "Anywhere you go, I can go. I'm of age!"

Pet retorts, "You have nowhere near enough battle experience."

"Oh! I thought your son died!? Did you lie to me bitch!?"

Tatsuo holds his tongue as he's never seen his mother's golden eyes turn a bright blood red. Her brow twitches and she turns back to the sea. Tatsuo blinks and she's gone. Roan runs up just after Tatsuo loses sight of Pet. "Tatsuo, what's happening? Where'd Ka-san go?"

The cracking of wood alerts them to the ship's presence not too far past the wall of flames. Roan grumbles as he prepares himself to jump, "Are the flames really necessary?"

Tatsuo shrugs and jumps with him. They both fly through the air and land on the deck of a ship. All the inhabitants are unconscious and Pet is shredding the table where a speaker den den mushi smirks evilly. "Let's end this already. You came out of hiding for a reason, what's your play?"

"Where's the fun in that? Come join me on the last island where you were supposed to die. If you don't come, then I have some people here who will take your place. The world surely won't miss them."

Pet nods gravely, "The usual, sure. I'll play along. Time we end this." **-gacha-**

Pet straightens up as her boys step forward. Roan is the first to speak, he speaks for both, "Let us help you Ka-san. Sounds like some heavy business and we can help with manning the ship."

Pet smiles and brings them in with a hug, "I know how to man a ship by myself, but if you guys want to help, that's alright. Let's give you a taste of adventure, eh?"

A devious grin plasters onto her face, she'll have them out of the house yet!

The trio set sail with Pet directing them on what to do. The Uchiha blood in them makes them fast learners.

In the calm of the morning, Tatsuo sits with Pet and Roan steers. Roan can hear him as he asks, "Who was talking on the den den mushi?"

Pet sighs, "Someone who used to be my friend." She turns to Tatsuo, "I've told you both about your uncle Tetsuya? How he was controlled and used against me?"

Roan and Tatsuo nod. Tatsuo grins, "I look like him?"

Pet pinches his cheek, "The hair and the eyes are similar but both could be because of your father and my genes. I was surprised you had red eyes though. It's unusual for mixed blood to have such dazzling eyes, but then that could be explained by both your relation to Tetsuya and my own red eyes that come up. The red hair is all your father and the black is probably from me. I'm just guessing. Anyways, the man who controlled and used him was Vegapunk. You know about him?"

Roan faces them with one hand still on the steering wheel, "That was Vegapunk?"

Tatsuo hums, "That's cool. This means you can finally end things with him and then you really never will have to fight again!"

Pet facepalms at her son, "I'm sure closure will come sooner or later, but for now, all I know is Luffy and the others probably led him to us."

Darkness clouds over both men before Pet adds, "Unwittingly of course."

Tatsuo sheds his malignant thoughts and stands, "Are you going to fight then?"

Pet strains for a smile, "I suppose." To put up her fists again, she'd like to pass, but it's time to finish things with Vegapunk. Tatsuo marks her apparent strain, as does her nephew.

They reach the previously scorched island, it's changed so much since Pet's seen it. The life that found a way brings hope to her heart, but she must shake the idle thoughts. It's time to get in gear. They circle round the island with Pet steering. Roan points out the giant mass of black inland, "What is that? That's not natural."

Tatsuo scrutinizes it as well but Pet commands, "Drop the anchor. I'm assuming that's the place."

Roan runs to do as she asks while Tatsuo asks her, "What is that, Ka-chan?"

Pet sighs, "It's your uncle Tetsuya."

The men's jaws both drop, and Pet remains solemn, plagued by the memories of the battle that took place. Roan and Tatsuo share a glance when she leans on the rail, rubbing her bad knee. She hides it well, but she really should use her cane more often. Since she hasn't been in any fights, her healing powers go to easing the pain of her leg; the fragments still cause her the occasional discomfort and she uses her leg normally when she shouldn't bend her knee at all.

She had to go in disguise to obtain one of Queen Mansherry's precious medicinal flowers for her wrecked arm, even then Pet still gets the occasional ache or throb in her arm.

She hops off the ship. As her son and nephew join her on land and they head to the valley where Tetsuya's hardened dragon corpse stands, she tells them, "Stay out of the fight. Once we reach the dip, you two are hanging back. Got it?"

Roan nods while Tatsuo huffs, "We're adults, you can't tell us what to do. I'm going to fight with you. What if you get hurt?"

"Then I can handle it. This is my fight. Not yours, and not Roan-kun's. Mine, so I expect you to respect my wish, Tatsuo."

Tatsuo straightens at the tone she used to say his name. Finally, he concedes, "Very well, Ka-san."

The two stop just as they reach the dip and Pet walks on. She marvels at the black dirt of the valley floor, mostly around Tetsuya. She doesn't scent char as she does from his body, chiseled charcoal, barely recognizable on the outside that it has a form. He positioned her between his dragon claws with his neck curled in, snout touching the earth and his wings covering the rest. Doflamingo found a way in between the wings and neck. Pet can just barely make out the lines where it shows his eyes shut to the blast, instant death though he was already bleeding out with a slice to his throat.

The scene around her requires attention, however. Such as the multiple posts among the ash where people are bound to them, masks covering their faces. Pet honestly doesn't know why the masks were necessary. Something riles in her belly telling her to be extra weary. Standing by Tetsuya's statue is a lone figure, their back to her. She walks past through the posts, noting the condition of the captives. They all appear to be in perfect health.

Pet's yellow eyes clash with his light blue. He looks at the ground, not willing to hold her gaze for so long. She feels her anger building as he kicks up some of the dirt with a sheepish expression. He mumbles, "Long time, Pet-chan."

Pet narrows her eyes, "Time to end this Vegapunk. Let's just get this over with."

Vegapunk looks up at her as she studies him. His hair is spiked at odd angles and he has dark rings under his eyes. She stifles the worry she would feel for an old friend, but this is her enemy. Vegapunk turns away from her, completely showing his back to her, and last she knew, he didn't have any special reflexes like her. "Such a shame Tetsuya had to be left out in the open like this. All alone." He shuffles around and rests a hand on Tetsuya's head, "Why did you leave him out here like this, Pet-chan? Wasn't he your brother? Why didn't you give him a burial like you gave your other family?"

Pet crosses her arms, "It would be an insult to them to show their murderer the same respect. His burial would've been your responsibility Vegapunk. Wasn't he like a son to you? Or was he truly just a science project?" She sees the tensing in his back at her words.

He snarls, "He was my prized subject! My most precious and brightest! He-"

Pet returns the snarl, "Because of his natural talent! Don't you dare take credit for his greatness on the battlefield! He was the best of your subjects, because he was an Uchiha! Because he was _**my**_ family!"

Vegapunk seethes with anger, "The revenge will be sweet. The time to put you down once and for all is now. Then I'm going to find that demonic child of yours and kill him."

Pet sneers, "My boy can take care of himself, I'd like to see you try to kill him before he kills you."

Vegapunk shrugs and walks away while shaking his head. He walks toward a captive and Pet recognizes Azara. She steps toward him, growling, "You die, Vegapunk!"

She launches herself at him only to see him dip and scoop a handful of dirt, startled by his actions, she recoils at the black dirt thrown at her face. She splutters, "The fuck is this about!?" She rubs it off her face and looks at him, one hand on the ground as she suddenly feels weak. Drooping eyes, she tastes it in her mouth like gritty sand. One hand goes to her chest, however, as Vegapunk smiles down at her. He crouches next to Azara and pulls out a jagged dagger, "For killing my prized possession and destroying my career, I'm going to kill every single one of these people from your adored crews in front of you while you watch. You won't be able to do a thing."

Pet wheezes, "What is this?"

Vegapunk grins, "Kairoseki, what else?"

Pet's vision goes awry as she looks at the earth draining her power, _Kairoseki as a sand?_ She can't believe this. She feels her lungs slowing the intake of oxygen, it's quelling her resistance from the inside. The pain in her knee cuts through her sending an involuntary shiver as she crashes to her side clutching her leg and howling at the pain. Her fall just kicks up more dust, landing on her, almost encasing her. She whimpers and hears Vegapunks evil genius laugh.

This will definitely put a dent in her day. What did she expect? The man is crazy and has had a lot of time to plan this.

Luckily, her boys notice this is not the fearsome Pet they've heard stories told by pirates visiting the bar. Their mother never told them stories describing her fights, merely where, when, and why, never how her foes came to be vanquished. The two sprint down the hill with Roan brandishing a string of knives. Tatsuo keeps pace with him before sprinting ahead with a look of fury. He screams, "Ka-chan!"

Pet's movements are sluggish before she coughs, picking herself up, "Kairoseki... The dir-" She doesn't finish her phrase as Vegapunk delivers a sharp kick to her cheek. She lands back, but he's not very strong, so it's something she normally would barely have noticed. Tatsuo does not take kindly as smoke starts rising from him and his skin starts getting feverish to the point of strangely bright red and orange. His red eyes flash, and Vegapunk raises a brow and a smile.

Roan took a moment to look around at the posts with a hint of anger and disgust. He catches up to Tatsuo's tail just as Vegapunk rises from grabbing a handful of the earth. He chucks it at Tatsuo. Tatsuo, like Pet, is too caught off guard to dodge it. Roan, however, has a bit more forethought as to Pet's plight and promptly pushes his younger sibling out of the way. Tatsuo swings around but stays on his feet while Roan ducks and throws a knife at Vegapunk. It hits its mark at disabling one of his hands with a careful slice across the top and back of his hand before losing momentum and falling.

Tatsuo growls at him, "It was just dirt! Why'd you knock me out of the way!? Jeez!"

Roan murmurs calmly, "If you paid attention to Ka-san during our training then you would be actively asking questions during fights, one of which would include: why would the great and feared 'Demon Wolf' collapse during a fight. After going through different hypotheses, I came to the conclusion of Kairoseki."

Tatsuo looks at the ground, "What? Damn."

Roan glares at the younger, "Get your act together. You're making Ka-san look bad."

Tatsuo returns a heated leer before taking a deep breath and raising his fists. "Sorry."

Vegapunk watches them, "I can see the resemblance to Tetsuya from one, but who's the other?" He looks at Pet smirking on the ground.

Roan pulls two more knives for both hands from his string he tied to his front. He answers, "I'm her nephew, one of the last Uchiha."

Vegapunk blinks at him, "Oh, you're the boy she took in so long ago. Did she tell you? Did she tell either of you?" Vegapunk rubs his chin before shaking his head at their confused expressions. "Did she tell you how she's a criminal? That's why she's kept you both in hiding. Stole you when you were young. Poor dears." Vegapunk smiles and walks over to Pet, he crouches by her, "Let me just kill her really quickly before I prove it, okay? Then we'll get both of you back to your real parents who have been missing you dearly."

Roan and Tatsuo both remember all the times Pet was there for them, never held them back, never beat them, never kept secrets except the times when discretion was necessary due to age. Tatsuo and Roan share a look while Vegapunk rifles through his cloak to find another knife. He pulls out a rusted one and moves to slit her throat before being knocked back by a powerful mass of heat and molten fire onto his chest. Tatsuo places his raised leg back on the ground before the two run up to their mother.

Vegapunk splutters blood as his skin crackles and burns, "You will die Pet! Mark my words!"

Roan picks up Pet and once most of the dirt is patted off her skin, she becomes more alive. She steps down and holds onto Roan's shoulder as she hacks up a lung trying to dislodge any clumps. She feels a tad sleepy, but the Kairoseki is mostly gone. She turns back to Vegapunk weakly murmuring vague threats. She extends her claws and her eyes glow red as she orders, "Look away, boys." She grabs Vegapunk by the throat as she summons all her old memories as she stares into Vegapunk's eyes. He watches her eyes morph into a strange purple before she unleashes every memory of pain she felt by Tetsuya and her family and herself as she was a Marine. She shares the way her heart tore as Tetsuya's throat did. She shares the pain of the fight with him both physical and emotional. Vegapunk screams in agony, steadily rising until his voice is so ragged and raw that she cuts off his air by clenching her hand around his throat. Her demonic voice resounds, "For messing with my family for so long, this is their retribution. Goodbye old friend." Vegapunk's eyes bulge and he clenches around Pet's wrist before they weakly fall and Pet finishes with a snap of the neck. His body falls to the floor, but she still doesn't trust it as she raises her leg and delivers two sharp kicks to his heart and brain before deciding it's over.

Tatsuo and Roan waited with bated breath before turning to the captives. They still had the strange masks on their faces that made them wonder. Tatsuo was first to look at Pet's expression after she finished with Vegapunk. He noted the hard lines of pain before she walks behind the black statue and heaves.

He runs up behind her, patting her back as she crouches, breathing heavily with tears in her eyes. She blinks them away before muttering, "I hate this, Tatsuo. I hate this so much."

Tatsuo squeezes her shoulder as Roan stands back, offering silent but present support. "What's wrong?"

Pet shakes her head, but she feels sick to her stomach. Roan, knowing that the power she used is a double edged sword, asks, "What did you get from him?"

She stands and looks deep into Roan's eyes, "Absolutely nothing. No memories, no feelings." Roan appears taken aback while Tatsuo looks between them, he must've zoned out when Pet explained some of her various devil fruit powers. What? It's not like he'd ever have to face his mom in a real battle.

Roan presses, "Isn't that impossible?"

Pet shrugs, "Don't worry about it. He's gone now." Roan sighs in agreement preferring to let the matter drop. They tend to the captives and Pet transforms into her full wolf form, towering next to Roan and Tatsuo. They recall her briefly giving them rides and going hunting when they were younger. She sniffs Azara and the others and makes note of the differing scents. Transforming back she looks off toward another part of the island and informs them, "Their ships are over there. Few miles it would seem."

Roan and Tatsuo groan, "We have to carry all these people back to their ships?"

Tatsuo reasons, "Can't we just carry them to our ship and sail over there with all of them?" Even as he says it his heart sinks because they'd have to pile people on top of the other on the deck eventually.

Roan offers, "What about your ancient power?"

Pet turns to him, eyeing him carefully, "Are you insinuating we use my dragon form, the ultimate form for defeating enemies, for transporting convenience?" Roan deflates under her intense gaze before she smiles cheerfully, "Nice idea Roan-kun." Roan releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Meanwhile Tatsuo whoops, "Yeah! We get to see Ka-chan's dragon form! Sweet!"

Pet grins and builds her energy, favoring her knee before pushing off the earth, shooting through the air like rocket, although not as fast nor as high as she would've been able to in her younger days, but still awe-inspiring. There's a great poof with a cloud surrounding her before her dragon wings beat it away and Tatsuo and Roan watch the great and mighty dragon above them. It's beyond massive, bigger than their ship. Pet described it to them before, but refused to show them because it might give them heart attacks and attract attention.

Her enormous serpent head looks down at them, although Pet's eyes are now cloudy blue, they recognize the same patience and calm in them. Just as when they were first afraid of the menacing wolf with scars and spiky fur before them, Pet's gentle nature shined through her usual sunny eyes and they saw the creature was one and the same with Pet.

Tatsuo remarks, pumping his fists, "You're amazing Ka-san! Wow!"

Roan chuckles and Pet's teeth sparkle as an expression of mirth crosses her dragon features. She lands nearby and the two get busy loading her up. They lay people along her back around the small spikes before she gently takes off, minding her passengers. She takes one for her back legs and two in her front talons as well as two held by their clothes at her teeth. Grabbing another with her tail, she takes off straight toward the ships with Tatsuo accompanying her, laying on her head. He marvels at the scenery and keeps an eye on the previous captives before Pet descends within a minute. Tatsuo works fast to leave the people on their proper ship and Pet carefully lays the ones she held down. Tatsuo remains with them while Pet returns to Roan.

Roan scratches his head, "We might have to make one more trip."

Pet shakes her head, "Just pile them on and we'll make do. This'll be the last. If you need to, just put some on my neck, it'll be fine."

Roan nods and gets busy. Pet was right it would only take another trip although he did monitor them closely on the flight due to the tight fit. Pet merely curled her tail touching her back and Roan piled them that way so she could hold many more.

After all was said and done, the brothers looked to each other then at Pet as she rested on the beach watching them on either ship. Her tail sweeps occasionally as she muses things in her dragon state. She noticed some of the cracks of her scales from her fight so long ago. The two rest on the Sunny's rail catching her gaze. Roan asks, "Are we going to leave them here? We can't all man a ship singlehandedly, and Law's ship looks difficult."

Pet responds in her strong and rumbling voice, "No, they're coming with us back to Laira. Grab some rope and make sure it's really long, three pieces for each ship. I'll pull them back in this form."

Tatsuo spazzes out again while Roan narrows his eyes at her, "Why don't you change back?"

Pet tells him, "It takes a lot of effort to transform every time. I might be too tired to change back into a dragon if necessary."

Roan nods at her explanation and goes to do as she asks with Tatsuo grinning like a fool with his hands behind his head. Pet lets her heavy head rest on the beach as she thinks of what must be done when they get back. She smelled the chemicals over each of the crew mates but Luffy, Law, and Kid received something different, that she couldn't quite pinpoint everything in the concoction. Whatever it was reminded her of some heavy duty hallucinogens she came in contact with as a Marine. She worries what might happen if they're left alone.

Eventually, Pet lifts off and allows Roan to tie the three rope to her tail with Tatsuo opting to remain with his mother, again keeping her company in the sky before napping into the afternoon only to awake to his stomach growling. Roan made him food so he travels back down and back up prompting his mother about a meal. Pet shakes her head and continues long into the night until they reach home. Tatsuo helps dock the ships while Pet deforms and falls onto her side from the air, curling in on herself. Tatsuo and Roan come upon her, before they both drape her arms across their shoulders and they head off to their home.

Pet sleeps peacefully for most of the next day then long into the night. She'd stir occasionally, open one shimmering eye before shutting it, satisfied that she could rest longer. It was only when the moon was high overhead that Pet officially arose, sensing a shift in the wind. She pulls on her very own cloak and dons the hood to hide her features. Concentrating, her brown locks lighten to a platinum white. She looks in the mirror focusing and straining to dim her eyes, it's such second nature to her now that it's hard to calm her devil inside. Once she has her appearance accounted for, she takes out a solitary blade, the one Tashigi could never find of the named blades.

Pet grabbed it from her barren village. She fears they would recognize her precious twin blades. She has yet to give them to Roan. She's noticed how he's always admired them. Tatsuo is more of a hand to hand combat kind of guy, but when he heard that his father was a swordsmen as well, he learned to be closer to him. Pet told him she is unsure of what happened to his father's blade.

Just as she quietly steps out of her house into the cool night air, her stomach growls softly. She sighs and decides she has time to hunt. They should be waking soon enough, but she has some time to kill. She hops off the porch and lands as a wolf stalking toward the woods separating her house from the small town on their small island.

* * *

Like a loud siren had awoken them, every single crew member of the three pirates crews opened their eyes. Luffy threw himself from bed and walked outside, his nakama parting easily for him with dead stares. Something about the expression of the Captain's is different, there's some kind of anger or intense hatred. Luffy hops down on the beach in synchronicity with Kid and Law. Their crew members pile around them, all focused on one solitary figure sitting, cross-legged, with one katana propped on her shoulder and beautiful, almost translucent, white locks.

Pet's icy smooth voice reaches their drug-filled minds, "Go back to bed, children."


	33. A Solemn Farewell

_Enjoy._

* * *

Pet sighed heavily as the Captains advance on her, not stepping too close before they stop. Her yellow eyes flicker beneath her hood; she figures they won't remember and it's pointless to keep her secret anymore.

Luffy grits, "Dead. You left us! You stole babies!" His speech is strange, like he's grasping onto various arguments but is only able to express them in the simplest of terms.

Pet nods, "Go back to sleep."

Law draws his long katana, and growls, "Don't order us around like children! We're not children!"

His speech is slightly more coherent, then Pet notes Luffy's becomes more steady as well.

"You weren't there for Shanks. You weren't there for Ace. You shouldn't be there for Tatsuo or Roan, you don't deserve it."

Somehow, that cuts deep to Pet's soft spot. She holds her precious blade with her hand on its sheath, and considers drawing it out with her other hand resting on its handle. She shakes her head and tells them, "I'm not looking for a fight, boys. Just, go back to bed and we'll talk in the morning."

Luffy's features contort in pure malice, "Don't tell me what to do, you murderer."

Kid steps forward, "You killed your brother for people who aren't even there for you. You're the worst of scum."

Pet stands, quite solemnly... She wants to argue, but she knows it won't amount to anything anyways. All she can muster is, "I love you guys, I can't... I won't hurt you, but if Vegapunk is drawing what's already there to the surface, then..." She holds her sheathed katana out and lets it fall to the floor, "Have at it. I'm retired, I have no wish-" She's cut off by a sharp punch to her gut by Luffy.

He exasperates, "Do you ever shut up?"

She tumbles a ways and lays in a heap, staring at the dirt around her. She remembers every moment she rose from the ground after getting beat down, and questions whether this will be the last time, but the last time was supposed to have already passed. She sighs, _I'm done pulling myself up for another round of fighting._

There's a simple switch and she's back in front of the three. Luffy kicks her face before grabbing her and pulling her up, "Fight back, killer. You always were so lazy, letting everyone die around you, letting everyone suffer for you. No wonder your family kicked you out. It was still too late for them to escape you, and they paid the price many times over. I wish everyone else was that lucky."

Pet stares into Luffy's eyes stoically. She doesn't protest.

Her eyes bulge and she jerks at Law's "Counter Shock. Maybe this'll wake her up."

Luffy lets her fall. Kid yells, "Defend yourself, 'Demon Wolf'!"

Pet glances at him with his arm extended, pointing above her, and she looks up at the metal shards flying at her. She figures a howl, but doesn't want to wake the boys. Finally, she steels herself, literally, in armament haki so her clothes are torn, but not her skin. She lets the armor fade but gasps when Kid redirects. She rolls onto her back with metal sticking out of her torso and thighs. She breathes heavily and pulls out pieces protruding from her chest and stomach. She doesn't get to rest as Luffy stomps on her face, cracks split across the ground from her head and blood spills down the sides of her cheeks.

Kid crouches by her, "You think you get to decide what we need to know and don't? Look at the renowned Pet, lying on her back, defeated. You still think you should keep information from us?"

Pet stares at the sky, half paying attention, but not really. Her vision is then filled with Luffy's arm extended behind him as he yells, "Gomu gomu nooo Red Hawk!" His fiery fist pummels into Pet's stomach and she gets further buried into the ground.

It's not long after Luffy's reverberating exclamation that her boys burst from the house and come upon their mother beaten and bloody, looking either dead or bored, they can't tell. Roan kneels by his adoptive mother, pulling her into his arms, but she continues to stare at Luffy and the three. "Sorry for waking you boys," she murmurs.

Luffy cracks his knuckles, "Whoever they are, they'll die with you, just like you should've died with Tetsuya on that island."

The straining muscles of her son, make Pet look at Tatsuo. His face is contorted in a snarl, but what has Pet worried is when his skin turns a bright red/orange, almost gelatinous and molten. Smoke rises from his shoulders as he sends daggers via his glare to the three. He growls, "Roan, go take care of the others, these three are mine."

Roan tears his gaze from the three superpowers to peer at his brother, the man is like a volcano that's about to erupt. The older obliges, knowing of his Devil fruit power. "I'll take care of the rest."

Pet breathes, "Don't hurt them, just a decisive hit should do it."

Roan nods to her and walks past. For some reason, their crews remain stationed like zombie statues in front of the ships.

Luffy glares at Tatsuo, "You killed my brother."

Pet gapes at Luffy and Tatsuo shifts his weight at the statement. Tatsuo snarls, "What are you talking about? You hurt my mother."

Pet sighs, "They're not themselves." She's perfectly happy watching how this plays out, as long as she doesn't have to fight.

Luffy steps forward menacingly, "Ace is dead, because of you!" He runs at Tatsuo with both arms stretched out, steam rolls off his skin, "Jet Bazooka!"

Tatsuo sidesteps last second, dripping molten earth, "Leave us alone!" He kicks Luffy's stomach, blasting him with magma. Luffy blows away with a cry of pain since his skin is burning.

Pet coughs, "Tatsuo!"

Tatsuo hears her concern and makes a mental note to tone it down with the heat; he's just so angry! Tatsuo exhales through his nose as he charges Kid who's throwing metal at him. The metal melts off Tatsuo until Kid has to step back at the young man in front of him. Tatsuo supercharges his fist with haki, and punches Kid to the ground in a massive show of strength. Tatsuo suddenly is in front of Law, who's just about to swipe him with his sword. Feeling lost for a moment, until he sees Law falter, oddly stepping back from his previous advance. The hair on his arms rise as Tatsuo looks to his mother, and sees her intense gaze focused on Law. Tatsuo awes, "Conqueror's Haki?" His mother never used it on him, she just explained what it does and the odds of having it are slim.

Tatsuo turns around just as his uncle bares down on him with a powerful pistol. The younger feels outmatched once again, but he's not looking to his mother for help. "Sorry, Ka-san." He heats up, turning his body to magma. Luffy may punch, but he'll get burned. Luffy pulls away at his knuckles burning. He glares at Tatsuo with such ferocity, "Akainu!"

Tatsuo grimaces at the name, the man his mother always despised and not just because the former magma man killed his other uncle. Tatsuo slings magma at Luffy, so he cringes beneath the heat and pain. Retracting his heat once again, Tatsuo brings down his heel across Luffy's jaw, armed with haki, of course. Luffy slams to the ground with a thud. He moves on the ground slightly and Tatsuo frowns. Again, as if by magic, a powerful force seems to push Luffy deeper into the ground. He lies still at last.

Tatsuo searches the area for more foes. He sees Law and Kid are put out as well. When he turns back to his mother, he notes she too found her way to a dreamworld. Roan cleans up quickly and returns, remarking, "Wow, did you do all this by yourself?"

Tatsuo shakes his head, "Ka-san helped me, I think."

"She hasn't moved since I left though? How'd she do that?"

"I think she used Conqueror's Haki? It was weird."

Roan smirks, "That was just a fairy tale she used to tell us, she never even demonstrated it."

Tatsuo shrugs, "I think that's what she used to help me. I was almost done for when Law came at me, but he kind of stopped. Then Luffy was going to get up for more and it was like he'd been punched back into the ground by a giant fist! Even Kid isn't that weak! These three are legends, I'm not powerful enough to take them out so easily, but-"

He gazes down at the brunette passed out on the floor. Roan nods, "Okay, okay, let's just get Ka-san inside and clean up this mess."

* * *

Tatsuo looks down at his sleeping mother. He sees her expression of calm, all her anger and ferocity has been weathered away by time. She sleeps so peacefully, and Tatsuo is struck with a wonder. She's told him of her travels, and he feels his heartbeat quicken with excitement. He wishes to journey across the world and back and again until he's lived as full a life as her, but here he waits.

Roan's voice calls from the front door, "Tatsuo, are you going to eat?"

Tatsuo stands and walks out, "Yeah, I'm coming."

Once outside, Tatsuo eyes Luffy and the others warily as he sits close to his older brother. Azara asks after they've all eaten their share, "So, Pet said you guys were waiting to travel? Why haven't you left yet?"

Tatsuo stares at Roan, who smiles at his sister, "I'd like to see the old village and go with them to see Shanks' grave."

Luffy laughs, "She told you about Shanks?"

Tatsuo moves his gaze to the Strawhat Captain, "Of course she did. He was her husband and my father."

Luffy blinks at the hostility, "I met Shanks before I met your mother. He gave me this hat." Luffy places one big hand atop his treasure.

Tatsuo nods, "I know... What happened to my father's sword?"

Luffy grins, "Zoro has kept it clean and in pristine shape for me over the years. Do you want it?"

Tatsuo's breath catches, "Yes."

Luffy smiles, "I'll give it to you later. I'll show you around my ship too; Franky built it."

Franky pushes up his sunglasses with a smaller metal hand, "Ow! Sunny is a super ship."

Tatsuo's lips pull into a grin. Even Azara cracks a smile, "Why don't we all go visit our old village. I'll go with you guys to see Shanks' grave too."

Law's eyes rest on his subordinate, as if he's about to decline, until Luffy booms, "So it's decided! We're all going to set sail and take them where they want to go, shishishi."

Kid shrugs, "Eh, why not. Where's Pet? Let's go."

"Speak and I shall appear. I'm not going anywhere until I get some food and take care of some stuff at my bar."

Roan stands, "What do you need done? I'll go."

Pet smiles lightly, and leans on the cane she didn't have before as she walks down the porch steps. "If we're going on a trip, then go check our stocks, lock up, and tell the neighbors to keep an eye on the place. We shouldn't be gone too long."

Roan dips his head and turns to take the path back to town. Azara follows, "I'll help."

Pet sighs and goes to sit at the table, eyes follow her. She eats quietly and Law finally breaks the silence, "Why do you have a cane?"

Pet raises a brow at him, "Because I need a cane sometimes?"

Law points out, "You're not that old, Pet-san."

"Not that young either. Sometimes the break from Tetsuya acts up, no biggie."

Chopper adds, "What about your devil fruit power, didn't it heal it?"

Pet sighs, chewing on a thought, "It never really healed. There's a price for every devil fruit power regarding healing. It gets to a point when you don't heal the way you used to. If I were to become severely injured at this point, I'd either die or by some miracle survive just as a testament to my own natural healing capability."

Luffy frowns, "Does it hurt?"

Pet smiles, "It aches, and if I overdo it then it hurts. Usually I can keep the pain at bay with my power, but I'm not as durable as I used to be." She pauses and meets Luffy in the eyes, the air becomes serious as Pet tells him, "The life you lost when Ivan pumped you with those drugs during the war will catch up to you someday too."

Luffy grins widely, "Oh, is that what you were going to say? I don't regret that Nee-chan."

Pet flashes a smile back and continues eating.

Kid laughs boisterously suddenly, before chuckling, "If no one's gonna ask it then I will. What's with the cloak, Pet, what're you hiding?"

Tatsuo grimaces, he's about to launch at the fiery haired man until Pet's hand on his shoulder stops him. She stands, towering as she usually does with her monstrous height and opens the cloak to show the bandages beneath. Tatsuo clenches his teeth before he turns to glare at the group, they're dead silent. Luffy stands, rubbing the remnants of his burns.

Kid snarls, "Che, did we do that to you?"

Pet shrugs, "Does it matter?"

Tatsuo almost collapses at her words. Luffy walks around to her, Tatsuo can only watch, wondering how this will be resolved. Luffy holds her aged hand; he looks into her calm eyes, "To you it doesn't, but to us, at least let us apologize."

Law walks over now, "Have you been treated? What happened?"

Pet shrugs again, sheepishly, she tells them, "I just didn't have the fight in me like I used to. Tatsuo fought you guys."

Tatsuo stands up defiantly, "You used Conqueror's Haki to finish them!"

Pet laughs, "You fought well, after all, it was the first time you fought three on one."

Kid slams his hand on Tatsuo's back, who shivers, "Good job little man, for protecting your mom like that."

A laugh escapes him, "Dahahaha, you're all letting it go?"

Pet ruffles his hair, "Why wouldn't they? It wasn't their fault. And look, you got to meet your uncles and cousin because of our chance meeting. Vegapunk would've found me sooner or later Tatsuo, but look at the good that came of this."

Tatsuo releases a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, "You're right." All this time, he'd wanted justice for his mother. He wanted those that hurt her to apologize, but he was focused on his uncles when the real villain has already stepped aside, well, more like shoved aside by his mother. He feels a new respect burning for the adults around him. He has much to learn when it comes to letting things go. It must be a trait of his mother's to do that, he grins cheekily to himself.

Pet raises a brow at his expression.

* * *

Pet stayed on Sunny while she directed them to the old Baterilla. She smiles slightly, to herself, when she sees her home hasn't been corrupted. The ships dock and Pet hops down, walking into the small parting of the trees past the beach. Tatsuo follows close behind along with the rest. Azara picks up speed as images flash through her mind. Her heart is bursting as she recalls being taken past the death and destruction.

She finds Pet stopped slightly in the middle of the old clearing, the former buildings are no longer standing. They're just ruins. Azara falls to her knees, looking around her, flashes of the smoke and fire, the sounds of murmuring and gasping before death. The young woman almost starts hyperventilating until her eyes fall on Pet's still form, standing, looking around, probably remembering her own horrors in this town.

Tatsuo walks up to them, "Ka-chan? Is this it? Where are the graves?"

Pet nods to herself, and limps on, leading them to the ruined residential area. They see plots of graves in front of every place a home used to stand. She jerks her chin, "I put them where they used to live. Parents and their children side by side."

Luffy frowns and stares at his older sister. There's a shadow of pain, but just from the loss of so many lives. She murmurs, "Hitoshi and his wife are by the chief's house."

Robin remarks, "Your brother was the chief?"

Pet hums, "Yes, we are descendants of the old White Dragon Empress, so our line always makes up the leaders of our clan."

Azara adds, "Katashi was chief before my father, but he and his family were murdered before."

Pet mutters, "It was some internal strife. I came as soon as I heard and found the killer. Hitoshi took over after."

Nami ponders, "Did you guys have an actual grave yard?"

Pet shifts her weight, "Sort of, we usually burn our family members and let their ashes fly by the sea, but as a remembrance there are headstones with names of them all."

Azara questions, "So, we did have a certain funeral rite?"

Pet blinks at her, "Yes, but I didn't have time to perform it for everyone."

Pet leads the two of Hitoshi's to their grave site so his children can pay their respects. Pet and Tatsuo stand as Azara and Roan kneel for a moment of silence.

Roan notes, "I don't even remember them."

Azara shrugs bleakly, "I barely remember."

Tatsuo nudges Pet, he wants her to share her memory with them, but Pet feels she might let something negative slip that she doesn't want their children to know. Pet, instead, decides, "I think I have some pictures locked away somewhere of your baby pictures with your parents. Not a lot, just two. I could find them in storage later."

Roan raises a brow, "You've had them this whole time?"

Pet bites her cheek, "I forgot I did. I have a lot of things I didn't share with you and Tatsuo because you didn't need to know. It's not important to your generation... but." She looks at the pirates standing a respectful distance away.

Her eyes settle on Robin, who smiles pleasantly at her. Pet returns the favor and lets on, "I have some records kept by my clan about the Void century and the link between your clan and mine."

Robin becomes intrigued, "You have records of that history?"

Pet nods gravely, "It's been my clan's duty to keep it safe all these years. It's one of the reasons we went into hiding and stayed in hiding. I told Luffy, and some Revolutionaries know the true history. You know through the poneglyphs my people set up, but you never learned the origin of the poneglyphs and why your clan and my clan. Although not everyone can read the poneglyphs, I do have some documents and a journal belonging to Yuki the previous Empress."

Robin shakes her head, "No, the poneglyphs don't mention the Empress or our clans or their origin."

Pet smiles, "If you're curious we can get those out too, after we see Shanks."

Pet had forgotten to share those with the Oharan. She meant to, but a lot of shit happened during the war. Now is as good a time as any other. They reach the last stop within days. This time Pet hangs back as they all go forward to mourn the former Yonko. Pet watches from the back, leaning on a tree.

Luffy calls to her, "Why are you over there? You should be here with us."

Pet walks forward; she grips her cane till her knuckles are white. She stops, staring down at the stone, feeling her heart yearn for her husband. She merely stands, as a statue.

Tatsuo prompts, "Ka-chan?"

"I died the first battle of the war. You remember, boys?" She's not sure why this is coming to her now. She was just visualizing her last moment with Shanks before Tetsuya caught her, but that moment on the battlefield was so vivid to her. She could've sworn she died and had a visit with her lover.

Roan cocks his head, "What do you mean?"

Kid answers, "Law brought her back; she was impaled at Marine Headquarters when we first met you and Azara."

Pet chuckles darkly, "Law helped, but I came back of my own accord. I was going to stay with Shanks, but he told me to go back."

Tatsuo chokes, "What!?"

Pet smiles so sadly and looks at him, "For you, Tatsuo. He reminded me when I wanted to stay. He totally guilt tripped me, but... He was a good father before you were even born." Yes, she's not sure she's ever put it that way to her son. Shanks truly was a good man, and he was there for the youths in both their lives.

Tatsuo steps back, feeling the emptiness of his father's place. He's always wondered what it would've been like if his father survived, not that Pet wasn't enough, just for her to come right out and say it. He's filled with this loss, that he missed out on someone amazing.

Pet sighs, "He was a great husband to me and a well respected man to everyone."

She turns to walk away, "He was right when he told me that he would live on in you all, especially his son."

Pet is content to leave with that. Her life has been full and even more blessed thanks to her playing a mother. She's glad of her moment, even if it probably was a figment of her imagination, but that moment before she came back, that she got to spend with her loved one, gave her courage.

Afterward, they head home where Pet can show them her storage basement away from the house. Robin looks through and exclaims at interesting documents. While Pet's family coos at the pictures of Azara and Roan. She lets them explore and rests at her house. Her secrets are all out in the open for them all to see now.

After the excitement, the pirates feel the pull of the sea once more and they see them off on their final day. Pet gives Luffy a hug, and when it comes to Luffy and Tatsuo, Luffy grins and takes his hat off and places it on Tatsuo's head.

Luffy grins, "You know, I wasn't sure I would find someone to take my hat after, but I think you're who I've been waiting for."

Tatsuo feels the comfortable straw hat, so warm and familiar, so right. He smiles, "I think I've been waiting for this too."

Luffy nods, "I hope to see you on the sea some day. There's still a lot of sights to see and people to fight for fun."

Tatsuo grins, "Dahaha, I know, I'm excited."

Luffy hugs Tatsuo and heads back up to his ship. Meanwhile, Azara holds her younger brother, "Stay safe baby bro."

Roan laughs, "I should be telling you that. Glad to have seen you. I'm going to stick around on dry land, I think."

Pet's just finished saying her goodbyes to Law and Kid when she hears Roan catch her attention, "Plus, who's going to take care of Ka-san if I'm not around?"

Pet laughs, "I can still take care of myself." She walks over and pulls Azara into a hug. The younger feels the warmth and strength still coursing through the taller woman. Azara sighs into Pet's arms. Pet releases her and they see the pirate crews off.

It's not much time later that Tatsuo leaves. He caught a ride at the town's docks after Pet hugged him and wished him safe travels. Roan was happy to stay at home and work the bar, also, familiarize with a girl he met.

* * *

Pet left the house to Roan and his wife, knowing they would need the space for a future family. Roan didn't want her to go, but Pet told him where she was headed and that it would be fine to live out the rest of her life there.

And she did find solace on another island, in another secluded place, overlooking the sea. She was visited regularly by her younger brothers and sons toward her end. Until one time, she told Roan, as he and his family were leaving to sail back home, "Don't come back Roan-kun."

Roan stared at her withered features, wrinkled with time and age. Her white hair billowing down her shoulders as she smiles, holding his hand soothingly. "What do you mean, Ka-san?"

Pet pats his hand and tells him, "I'm afraid it's almost time for me to go."

He helps her sit down and he crouches to meet her twinkling eyes. "Come with us, I don't want you to be alone if that's the case."

Pet shakes her head, "No, I'll be fine. I haven't felt alone in a long time, son. Just go, and don't worry. Wouldn't want you coming for a visit with the kids and traumatizing them. Just letting you know and you can pass it on to the others."

Roan nods dutifully and kisses her forehead. She smiles and watches him go. Not many days later does Pet pass. She set herself up outside with a chair, watching the sea as the sun sets upon it with a calm smile and just felt everything start to slip. She murmured, "Shanks, my family, I'll see you soon." Then her heart simply beat once, twice, then never again. Her breath left her. Her body was left as if she was in a deep sleep, but none would ever be able to hurt her with reality again, she'd never wake again.

* * *

**Author's Final Note: **Thanks for all the attention this story got and for those that stuck with me to the end. I hope it wasn't too terrible for you haha. Anyways, thank you all once again, and I'm now going to focus on The Vixen's Incidents of Debauchery, and hopefully get some other stuff out too. I can't express my thanks enough

**_Truly, Hope y'all enjoyed._**

;D


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